The Disneyland Tales
by dreamwalker41
Summary: In a faraway place, far from modern-day society, Disney characters roam free, living regular lives in a place called Disneyland. Read of the stories of your favorite characters in The Disneyland Tales.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: I hope you all enjoy my first fan-fic. I've been wanting to write this for a long time, but haven't the chance until this summer! Give me feedback. Whether I agree with it or not, it's all appreciated. If you want me to read your story, send it to me! I'd be glad if you did! You can give me some ideas you'd like to see, I'm sure that I'll run out of ideas... someday. And sorry if I didn't include your favorite character, I just went with the characters I could see story lines for, or movies that I've seen, or movies that I like. (For example: I couldn't fit in King Triton anywhere into a story line, I've never seen Hunchback of Notre Dame, and I don't like the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas). Forgive this first chapter, by the way. I'm just trying to introduce places, characters and the way things work around Disneyland. Thanks for reading!**

Many places in the world claim to be Disneyland, supporting fake characters and places, but in a magical city far away, hidden from society, is a place of imagination and wonder. It is the true Disneyland.

Here reside the real characters we all have come to love through their movies. Walking through the streets, you can find Belle and Aurora, walking and talking, or Peter Pan and Wendy, bickering as always.

The characters have jobs, social lives and hobbies. Some get along, some do not. Some have fallen in love, and sometimes, their favor is not returned. I will share with you some stories of this wonderous land and, hopefully, the truth of Disneyland will delight you.

While most of the time the characters get along in peace, there are characters who, let's just say, like to disrupt the peace.

His Royal Highness, Mickey Mouse, banished the villians to the Outlands, the lands north of Disneyland. To keep them out, King Mickey put Phildoctetes in charge of keeping a number of heroes handy. Phil formed Phil's Hero Training Gym right on the outskirts of Disneyland to train heroes and station them in the area of the greatest threat.

In Disneyland's leftmost border is Pixie Hollow. Here Tinker Bell and all her friends reside. Within the center of Disneyland is the Palace, which is where Mickey and his royal court rule the land. Surrounding the Palace are houses to the east, west, and south, and to the north are shops.

Here you can find some of the best food around at Tiana's Place, or shop at Belle's Books. Some of the Disney residents don't have the business gene in them, so they work as employees in these shops.

But enough of my rambling. I'm sure you didn't come to hear me, but to hear the stories of the characters which you love so much.

If you take a look around in the Shopping District, you can see Belle busy at work in her bookshop.

"Aurora, would you hand me that copy of _Harry Potter_? I don't know why it's over there... it should go in the r's, not the p's," Belle instructed, while standing on her rolling ladder.

Her faithful employee Aurora gladly oblidged. "I think I must have put it over there. I'm still getting used to the alphabetical order system around here. By last name of author, _not _by last word of book." She lifted the book to Belle.

A small jingle rang throughout the shop, and Belle and Aurora simultaneously looked at the front door. "Adam!" Belle yelled delightedly. She swiftly put the many books she had in her arms in their places on the shelf and climbed down the ladder as quickly as she could without falling.

"Belle!" He opened his arms wide, and Belle came running into them. He no longer had to worry about crushing her, as he did before he had made his transformation from beast to human.

"Why are you here?" Her eyes widened. "You didn't get _fired_ did you?"

He laughed jovially, "No, dear. I decided to take a day off. Everyone was there today, and Phil said that I wouldn't be needed. The residents of the Outlands have been strangely quiet this week." Aurora strolled up to the couple. "Hello, Aurora. How are you?"

"Same as ever. Confused. I can't seem to figure out this book business. I should probably go back to singing and picking berries. Do you have any news from Philip?"

"You know Philip. That man never takes a day off." He turned to Belle. "So, Tiana's holding a big get together for everyone tonight at seven at Tiana's Place. Do you want to go?"

Belle nodded her head vigorously, making her brown ponytail shake. "Of course! Let me close up shop, and I'll run by the house and meet you at Tiana's!" Adam nodded, kissed her cheek, turned, and exited through the squeaky wooden door.

"Is it okay with you if we close early tonight?" Belle asked, heading back to the cash register to lock it up. Aurora followed, weaving through the maze of bookshelves.

"Of course! Maybe I can get Philip to go with me to Tiana's. He needs a break. It'll be fun!"

Belle looked around the antique-looking shop, surveying its shelves and checking the floors. "Well, everything looks like it's in order. And you finished taking stock?"

"Yep! That's one thing I've got down." Aurora's bright smile shone through her red lips.

Belle returned a grin. "Well, I think it's time to close. You can go ahead. I need to grab the keys from the counter."

"Bye, then!" Aurora said happily, "See you later!" She grabbed her grey wrap from the coat hanger by the door and was gone.

Belle stood by the cash register and looked for the keys. They had fallen on the floor. Belle locked the register, and headed towards the front.

She grabbed her brown coat from the coat rack by the door, shut off the lights of her little shop, and exited Belle's Books, her pride and joy, locking the door behind her.

She was surprised that it was already as dark as it was. It was only five o'clock! But she was not scared of the dark. There was no one in Disneyland that would want to hurt her. Everyone in the town was well off, and, for the most part, got along.

She trusted that her friends and her husband by the border of the Outlands kept all the villains out.

After she had been walking for a few minutes, she heard the Dwarves. "They're coming home rather late," she thought, as she heard the Dwarves sing their famous tune:

"Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's home from work we go, *whistle, whistle, whistle, whistle*, hi-ho, hi-ho, hi-ho, hi-ho..."

"Snow must be worried. They never come home after dark," she thought. The Dwarves passed her, and each in their turn, took off their cap towards her and kept walking.

Belle's home was on the southern border of Disneyland. She could see the spires of the castle from her shop. She shared her home with Adam, Lumiere, Chip, Cogsworth, and all the servants that had been transformed into humans again.

She was walking in silence for a few minutes, until she felt the strange sensation that she was being watched. Looking around, she saw no one. She spun around quickly, but still saw no one. Then she heard a laugh behind her. She stopped walking and turned around. Seeing still no one, she looked up.

Peter Pan and Tinker Bell were above her, Peter now letting his laugher ring out. "You looked so funny, Belle, spinning around like that! Don't ya know that I'm always going to be up flying?"

Belle giggled, too. "Well, yes, but I don't always know if it's going to be you. Would you happen to be going to Tiana's?"

"Of course. What else is there to do in this small town? Mickey's put away that old codfish for good. I have nothing to do in my free time. I sometimes go and visit Wendy at her night shift at Hatter and Hare's, but she took tonight off to go to Tiana's."

"You have that much free time? Even with Phil's constant demands for protection? You should give some of that time to Philip. His being at work all the time is really bringing Aurora down. I can't have my best friend feeling like that, can I?"

"Guess not. Well, Belle, I gotta fly. Nice seeing ya!" And with that, Peter was gone, Tink flying along with him.

Belle, after changing at her house from her blue dress and white apron into something much more presentable, began the long pilgramage to Tiana's Place.

She heard horses' hooves coming down the street. Turning, to her delight, she saw Cinderella and Charming, riding in their fine white coach.

"Belle!" she heard Cinderella yelling. When the coach had finally caught up to them, Cinderella insisted that she should have a ride down to the get-together.

(Belle was grateful, mainly because her nice shoes gave her blisters). It was a much shorter ride up to the party, and Belle didn't expect to be there earlier than Adam. But the party was already up and going, and almost every citizen of Disneyland was there, with more streaming in the wide front doors every moment.

She was greeted by Charlotte, dressed in a pink uniform with plenty of sparkles. "Good evenin'," Lottie's Big Easy accent sounding out of place, "Could I seat ya, Mrs. Belle?"

"Yes, please. A table for two. Adam's coming." Belle said absently as she looked around the room.

"A'course. Right this way!" Lottie lead Belle to a nice table at the front of the huge ballroom. The lighting was dim, the place was packed. Everything about the place was classy, very nice, and fun.

The ballroom ended in a bandstand, with a dance floor right in front of it. Belle's table was right next to the front of the dance floor. As always, Naveen and his band would be performing, their loud New Orleans jazz filling even the streets outside. Everyone would want to dance, making Belle's seat the best in the house. Belle thanked Charlotte, and sat down.

A group of princesses and their princes, including Mulan and Shang, Ariel and Eric, Snow White and Prince, Giselle and Edward, Pocahontas and John, Jasmine and Aladdin and Rapunzel and Flynn were all at one table, and waved Belle, who must have looked very lonely, over to where they were sitting.

Belle greeted them all with smiles and hugs, and was invited to sit down until Adam came. She accepted their invitation.

Looking around, Belle could see even Simba and Nala had come from their Savannah, and had brought their friends with them. Andy had come, with his toys, but Andy was a quiet kind of guy, and sometimes was mocked for hanging out with toys. But, him and Christopher Robin got along, and they shared a huge table to accomodate Pooh and Woody and all their friends.

The fairies of Fairy Hollow had come, and took up a smaller table. Peter sat with the Lost Boys and John and Michael, while Wendy sat with Eilonwy, Taran, Alice, Lady and the Tramp. Jim Hawkins, as normal, was sitting by himself. Herc, Meg and Phil all shared a table. She saw Aurora and Philip waving at her, and she waved back. The Dwarves were making a loud noise that only they could produce at their long table in the center of the room. The only three people that Belle didn't see were Grandmother Willow, Fairy Godmother and Mama Odie, who would rather hang out with each other than any one else.

Belle looked around one last time, enjoying the view. There was something special about seeing everyone in the same room. At last, Adam came, took her by the hand, and they enjoyed the evening, surrounded by friends, good food and wonderful music.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Thank you for all the wonderful feedback I got in chapter 1! I never expected anyone to actually _read_ it. :) And, for once, the author has a question for y'all. I like to respond to all the reviews I get. Last time I private messaged everyone. I was wondering if that's the norm for responding around here? This is my first fanfic and I'm still pretty fresh to the way things work around here. Let me know if there's a better way to respond. Thanks!**

"All right, you sorry bunch of heroes, listen up," Phil yelled over the din of his talking employees.

The long, narrow white building had a main viewing room, which Phil attempted on this particular morning to fit all twenty-two of his workers into. Kida, Mulan and Pocahontas sat in chairs, along with a few others, while most of the men stood. Taran, Peter, the lost boys and Simba all sat or laid down at Phil's hooved feet. Everyone was shoulder to shoulder. No one felt very patient. Whatever Phil had to say was sure to be important.

He had called them in _extremely _early this morning. People were yawning. On the floor, a few of the lost boys had nodded off. What was the point of coming in to work three hours early?

Phil was standing on the white tiled floor in front of his crowd. Behind him was the watching window. It was perfectly polished so the watchmen could have full view of the forested Outlands. There were several chairs in front of a long white desk, with plenty of surveillance technology that only the people who were trained to use it could understand.

"Everyone here?" Phil asked, hopping on his furry little legs to see over the tall princes. They all tried to nod, but no one could move that freely.

"Can we hurry this up, boss? I have an itch on my leg..." complained Peter.

"I'll finish when I need to," he snapped at the red-haired boy. "Now, since everyone's ready, I have some news. The King has ordered me to take a unit of you all into the Outlands. He's concerned about the silence out there. No one's tried anything in weeks... not even that ignorant Hook." That made Peter laugh. "That's not funny." Phil turned to Kida, who was in charge of the viewing room. "Have you even seen anything? Any one? Any movement... at all?"

"No, sir," Kida responded in her heavily accented English.

"So, instead of choosing, I thought I'd ask who would like to volunteer. I have ten spots." Hands shot up immediately. Well, as quickly as they could in that small a room. "Kida, Adam, John, Mulan, Herc, Philip, Simba..."

He hestitated, looking at all his choices. Peter was straining his hand as high as he could, causing him to subconciously rise off of the floor. In his effort, he hit Eric in the face. Phil didn't like to send Peter out on field missions. He was too young... and he put himself (or other people) in harm's way far too often.

"Eric, Shang, and... Pocahontas." He put his hands on his ample haunches, and ordered, "Ready your weapons and armor, and meet me by the back door, in, say... ten minutes."

The ten tried to move quickly, but had to wait for the whole company to move out the two side doors, as slowly as molasses.

* * *

Mickey had ordered that a town assembly be held that day in Disney Square, the courtyard in front of the palace. Mickey was to address the people on the matter of the Outlands and Phil's unit's mission.

He never liked to be the bearer of bad news. He wrung his gloved hands in and out of each other, over and over. Minnie felt pity for him. "Mickey, you can't worry about everything. Everything is not in your power. You just have to trust that people will do their job, and that people will understand."

Mickey nodded his head, shaking his gargantuan crown so that it had to be adjusted. Minnie fixed it, tenderly kissed him on the nose, and sent him out to face the population.

Disney Square was beautiful. A short-cut green lawn, enclosed by all kinds of spring-colored flowers was what awaited Mickey on the other side of the huge wooden doors of the Palace, filled with almost every face in Disneyland, (save the twenty-two and Phil). Mickey's podium was taller than he was, but it had steps leading up to it, so that he seemed larger. He looked nervously into the eyes of the citizens.

He saw Aurora's blue eyes, frightened of what news he could bring. She wasn't going to like hearing this...

"Hello, friends! I'm sorry I had to call you all to a meeting this morning. I promise it won't take but a second. Then you can all go to your morning shifts." Mickey looked behind him. He received an affirming nod from Minnie. "I don't know if you have heard, but the villains who were banished to the Outlands have been missing, and haven't been seen for quite some time. While this seemed like a good thing for a while, the Royal Court and I have become anxious. To avoid future disaster, I have ordered Phildoctetes to take a unit of ten heroes into the Outlands to look for them. I received a list of those who volunteered from Phil before he left this morning..."

As soon as she heard "volunteered", Aurora knew that Philip had gone. Mickey began to read the list. "Adam, Eric, Hercules, John Smith, Kida, Mulan, Philip, Pocahontas, Shang and Simba. Thank ya for listening. If you have any questions, you can come ask me in the Palace." Mickey carefully hopped down the steps of his podium and headed indoors.

* * *

Andy Davis always worried when a meeting was called. It was normally something bad. Andy liked to avoid conflict.

Millions of thoughts of what the Outlands could be like were swarming his head as he headed into Rapunzel's Art. He worked there from nine in the morning until five in the night time. He liked it, though.

Flynn and Rapunzel were two of the only people who understood him. Most people didn't even know who he was... some even avoided him. They all thought he was weird, just because he hung out with toys. They said the same things about Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and the rest, too.

Maybe it was because of that mockery that he and Christopher Robin were such good friends. They understood each other, they knew each other's pain.

They were about the same age. Andy was eighteen now. Time had passed since the world outside Disneyland had last saw Christopher. He had really blossomed. Unlike Peter Pan, they had to grow up sometime.

Within their age group were also Alice, Taran, Eilonwy, and Wendy. Alice, Eilonwy and Wendy got along very well. So well, in fact, they lived together, in a little cottage next to Tarzan and Jane's tree-house, not far from the Palace.

Andy shared his two story cottage with Christopher Robin. Taran lived with Peter Pan... they both didn't understand how Andy and Christopher could be friends with something that, according to them, didn't have a pulse.

But Andy and Christopher knew that their toys had more than a pulse. They had a heart.

Andy hoped has he headed in that morning that Rapunzel might need him to do some painting. He had inspiration running all throughout him, and he needed to put it on canvas.

Rapunzel made good money off of her art, (although she was the only person in town who sold art). Kronk had tried once, but he never got paid much. He found eventually that people liked his spinach puffs much better, and sold them in a rolling cart around the Shopping District.

But Andy was great at art. Rapunzel tutored him a lot of the time, showing him new ways to do things, or giving him new ideas. He loved his job.

Most of the time, however, he was stuck behind the cash register, taking money for the art that wasn't his. He was one of four employees there. Wilbur and Lewis never really showed up for work, and Rapunzel sat at her easel all day, painting whatever her mind came across.

Although the shop bore the name "Rapunzel's Art", Flynn Rider was actually the one who owned the shop. Sometimes he would stop by, and he and Andy would talk until a customer came in, when Flynn would attend to his business, say a quick goodbye to Rapunzel, and go on his way.

The point is, Andy, most of the time, was lonely. He sat in silence for most of his day, hoping that something unexpected would happen.

He had no idea that day would be special for him. And it started with something... or some_one_... so small.

Alice came down the street of the Shopping District, waving her basket back and forth next to her full blue skirts. She was off of work that day. The Mad Hatter and the March Hare had suddenly decided that today was "Un-work-day", and so gave all of their employees the day off. Alice was going to use her free day for shopping.

She, Wendy and Eilonwy had decided that they needed art to spruce up their little cottage. To give it a... girly touch, (as if the pink and yellow matching interior and exterior weren't girly enough). She was headed to Rapunzel's Art with a good sum of Disneydollars in her basket, ready to pay whatever sum for a special piece of art.

Andy saw Alice's blue dress from all the way out in the street. "Surely not," he thought. "No, Alice would be working in Hatter and Hare's. No one comes over to this side of the District at this time of day..."

Sure enough, the friendly "ding" of the front door alerted Rapunzel and Andy that there was a customer. But Andy needed no alert.

Rapunzel, combing her fingers through her short, jagged brown hair, walked, almost waltzed, over to Alice, who had already began looking through the many paintings that Rapunzel had painted of fields of flowers. Andy had painted one of them, but it had been there so long, and Rapunzel painted so quickly, that it had long ago been covered by layers and layers of other paintings. No one would ever buy it, let alone see it.

Alice carefully searched the racks, careful not to knock any of the paintings off. She had grown up to be a lovely young adult. Her long, silky smooth blonde hair fell gently down to her waist, and, as always, was only restricted by her black headband. Alice had outgrown her original blue dress years ago. She wore a lady's dress now, but she still didn't like it to go too far past her knees.

With the girlishness of the skirts of the other dress, her apron had been removed, and her puff sleeves had been traded in for flatter ones, sleeves that looked more grown up. Since today was hot, she didn't have need to wear stockings, but stuck to her classic black ballet flats.

As she talked to Rapunzel, she smiled and laughed. She had a friendly laugh, and a bright white smile to match it. Her eyes would scrunch up and the skin on her nose would crinkle.

Andy caught himself staring. He had noticed Alice before, sure. She was a pretty girl. But they had never really talked. No one really did talk to Andy.

Her slender hands moved about the paintings, her blue eyes intent on finding just the right one.

Andy wasn't really paying attention. His mind was off exploring new possibilities. "What if she and I... no, she wouldn't. But what _if_... what if we could get along? Be friends? Be..." But the thought was not ready for him to think it, even to himself. Dare he? "Be... together?"

Saying the thought, even in his mind, made him blush. He had never had a girlfriend before. He had never even tried. He decided to take his time, to give it a shot...

"Hello?" He was suddenly aware that she was in front of him, snapping her fingers in front of his light blue eyes. He shook his head and looked ather. Alice smiled at him and chuckled a little bit. He returned the smile, but in his head, he was giving himself a face-palm.

"I'm sorry. I can check you out..." He thought that sounded awkward. "I mean, your painting. If you're ready, that is." He was already turning red.

"I'm ready." She slowly hefted the painting onto the counter, and without looking at the front of it, read the price tag.

"You got quite a deal," he said, "Rapunzel normally doesn't sell them for that cheap."

Alice flipped over the stretched canvas frame to reveal the art itself. "Hey! That's..." Andy began, and then said slowly, "One of mine." He looked carefully at the messy cursive in the corner. The only two letters actually legible were "A" and "D".

It was the painting that was hidden so long ago by all of Rapunzel's. He was shocked, no, honored that someone would buy it.

"I saw that!" Alice smiled wider. "You did wonderfully. I just love blue. This will look nice in the den of our house!" She looked him square in the eye. "Thank you." Andy could plainly see that she genuinely meant it.

She handed him the Disneydollars she owed. He helped her lift the painting of the blue wildflower field and cloudy sky into a bag, and even followed her to the door, opening it for her and letting it close behind her. Before she left, she said, "Goodbye, Andy."

* * *

The friends and family of those who were in the unit who were taking part in the search of the Outlands waited in timid silence in the entrance of the lobby of Phil's Hero Training Gym. It was beginning to get dark out. The heroes were supposed to be in before five. It was five fourty-five.

Every now and then, there was a false alarm. The Dwarves on their way home, families and couples on their way to dinner or from work, and even Kronk whistling as he pushed his spinach puff cart around the Shopping District. It seemed like hours that they had been waiting.

Aurora was probably the most nervous of all. She sat rubbing her palms on her skirt. Belle, who was sitting next to her, warned her to stop, otherwise she would have holes in them before the night was over.

Poor Milo, who never expected Kida to accept a mission so short-notice, was worried sick. He paced back and forth, fanning himself, sometimes pulling on his suspenders.

Megara leaned against the white wall, filing her nails, not worried at all. Nala tried to take a cat nap, but Milo's feet would awake her every time he passed.

Ariel was outside, listening by the boundary of the Outlands for the noise of the brave troop's return. Finally, sometime around nine, the faint sounds of footsteps made their appearance, and Ariel ran as fast as her legs, (she still wasn't used to them), would let her. She burst in the door, and yelled, "They're home!" The heroes came downstairs to the lobby a few short moments afterwards, and began hugging the crowd.

As tall as Aurora was, she had to stand on tip-toe to see past the overjoyed crowd. She swayed back and forth, her view seemingly obstructed from every possible angle.

Phil was already getting angry, and they had only been back for half a minute. "Hey, can't you saps see we have an injured heroine, here?"

He pulled Kida by the hand through the crowd, Milo following closely behind. He was almost in tears. Her tanned arm had a wide gash in it, and she was losing blood fast. It poured thickly down her arm and left a trail of drops on the floor. People quickly moved out of the way.

Kida saw her good friend Aurora looking for Philip. As she passed, she grabbed her by the arm and tugged her with her. Aurora, seeing her wounds for the first time, gasped in horror.

Kida laughed. "Yeah, it looks pretty bad."

Aurora's eyes widened. "What happened out there?"

"I'll tell you later. But my arm isn't the worst thing about our little expedition." Kida stopped moving. Her ice blue eyes became drawn with darkness. "I'm sorry... Philip's still out there."


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: I changed something from the last chapter as well. I don't know why I had Alice working at Belle's. Maybe it's because in my notes, I get Alice and Wendy confused all the time. WENDY is the one who works in Belle's, not Alice. My bad. But you can go check out the little bitty change I made in last chapter, and then read the new one, and hopefully it will make more sense. Thank you, by the way, to Disneymouse for their review. FanFiction provided me no way to PM you, so I will acknowledge you in my Author's Note. (I'm glad you enjoy my writing! That's one of the biggest compliments an author can receive!) I hope y'all will enjoy this chapter and continue reading. **

The day after the heroes came home was a busy one. Many shops and restaurants were closed. Belle's Books, Rapunzel's Art, Tiana's Place, Tony's Ristorante Italiano and Ariel's Trinkets were all closed. Even Kronk wasn't out selling his wares.

The main reason for this was that Mickey was holding a conference today with the heroes who witnessed the accident. It was open to public viewing, so every seat in the throne room of the Palace was filled.

The white marble throne room was long and wide. Looking somewhat small in the center of this room was Mickey, seated at his gigantic purple and gold throne. To his right was Minnie's pink and red throne, smaller. Today, Minnie would be absent. Minnie wasn't one for talk of fighting.

The heroes were seated at a long, dark wooden table with a purple and golden runner laid across it. They had tall, straight backed dark wooden chairs to match, the plush part of the chair being purple and gold as well. There were eleven chairs. One of them was empty in Philip's absence. Kida was back from the hospital. She was talking and laughing, like she didn't have a wound at all. The thick white gauze on her arm told a different story.

The heroes all had glasses of water in golden goblets. Everyone expected this to be a long discussion.

The public stood behind the heroes. Some sat.

After all the heroes came, and Mickey waited for the citizens to settle, and then, with a heavy sigh, began, "We are all very curious as to what happened. Who would like to speak first?"

The heroes all looked at Phil. Phil stood on his chair so that he could be better seen and heard. "I think that the mission yesterday brought us many answers and unveiled new questions that need answers. Despite Kida's injury and Philip's disappearance, we had a fairly successful mission." Phil sat back down.

There was an awkward silence. Adam stood, and ran his fingers through his long dirty blonde hair. "Well, I agree with Phil. But I'd like to explain _what _happened." Adam took a swig of his water and cleared his throat.

"All eleven of us went past the borders of the Outlands right on time, and with no problem. It was bright in the forest, despite the heavy canopy, and we had no problem sticking together. We hiked for a long time... for several hours, probably. Eventually we stopped for lunch, and got right back up and hiked some more. No one said very much. We were trying to be as quiet as we could. Phil had his map of the area, which had been scoped out only two years ago by our map-making department out at the Training Gym. We knew where the villains were most likely to attack, or where their camp was. A few hours after lunch, when the sun was on its downhill portion of its daily routine, the overbearing canopy of leaves shadowed most of the forest. We had a bit of trouble keeping up with each other and knowing where we were going. Our unit came to a clearing. We searched the area for something, when Kida called out that she had found a necklace. It had a orange-ish shell at the bottom of a black string. Eric has it now."

Eric took the necklace, as described, out of his pocket. The crowd gasped. Mickey remained silent and still. "Eric recognized it to be Ursula's. We knew then that we were in the clearing that the villains had lived in, just as it was on the map. But there was no sign of anyone living there. It looked as if no one had ever lived there at all."

Adam paused, and drew a deep breath. "Before any of us had made our way over to see what Kida had found, however, a gunshot rang from one of the trees. The bullet grazed Kida's arm. We all dodged out of the way, then peered into the denseness to see what had caused it. I saw a bright red coat running away, with what little light there was glinting off of his gun. Gaston had attempted to shoot Kida, and ran away from the clearing. Before any of us could react, Philip took off running full speed after Gaston. To where, we don't know. I tried to chase after him, but I lost him quickly in the thick of the trees and I made my way back. We think, and this is the hardest part for me to say, that Philip has been captured by the villains." This drew a couple of screams from the crowd. Giselle fainted.

Adam sat again. "Thank you." But it didn't sound like he meant it. He sounded like he was in pain.

Aurora sat, stunned. She couldn't cry right then. In order to cry about something, she figured, you had to be sad about it first. And in order to be sad about something, you had to believe that it was true. She was still debating whether this was reality or not. Had her husband really disappeared into the harsh depths of that forsaken place? Or was this a dream?

Belle, who was sitting next to her, saw her eyes glaze over with disbelief when Adam told the story. She gently pulled Aurora's head onto her shoulder and held it there, trying to console her. She would have Aurora stay with her until Philip returned. There was no need for her to live by herself.

After that, there were a few questions for the returned troop, and then for the King, and they were all dismissed. Belle felt that she and Aurora did not need to hear any more than they already had. She took Aurora gingerly by the hand, and led her outside towards her castle.

* * *

Alice had an early shift that day at Hatter and Hare's. A lot of people had taken off work to go to watch the conference. Alice didn't understand those sorts of things.

She hated her job. Hatter and Hare's had the reputation for being the worst place to work in Disneyland, and it was true. Her bosses were always busy doing something to bring about their own restaurant's demise, and Alice, who was already busy attending to customers, had to convince them to stop. Trying to convince the March Hare and the Mad Hatter to do anything was a wish for being driven to insanity.

She had tried talking to them to get better employees. The Doorknob would yell at customers as they came in for gripping his nose too tightly. Tweedledee and Tweedledum would accuse the guests of using improper manners, and scare them off before they even got their meal. The White Rabbit was always in such a rush that he spilled everything he ever tried to carry. And when telling the customers the specials for the day, the Cheshire Cat would put them in riddles so that no one could ever understand them.

She had been guilted into working for them. They persuaded her in their usual manner. "But you are a friend of ours, aren't you? We always celebrate your Unbirthday! I don't see what we're doing wrong!"

Alice would like very much to tell them _exactly_ what they were doing wrong, starting with always forgetting to give her her paycheck, but she knew that they would simply deny it, and blame her. "Come now," the March Hare would start up after a side argument with the Hatter about some petty thing having to do with anything from tea to the weather, "Put that smile on your face and serve the tea."

The Hatter would add, "To us!"

Which would make the Hare say, "Yes! To us!" He would check himself, slap the Hatter, and say, "No, to the customers!" They would get into an argument, forget Alice was there, and she would slip out with less hope than before of ever escaping their employment.

Alice worked today like she did every day, from noon until seven at night, dressed in her black dress uniform, running to take orders and cover up for the other employees' mistakes.

* * *

Andy got off of his shift at five, and headed directly for home. It had been a rough day at work. Rapunzel was sick and Flynn hadn't come by that day except to open the shop for him. This was the only day that Wilbur Robinson actually showed up on time, and stayed for his whole shift. Lewis was at the conference. Andy and Wilbur didn't get along.

It had been a quiet day. They sold three paintings, all to Mama Odie. Besides that, there was no company nor solace for Andy.

Andy slammed the front door to his house behind him, and put away his house key for safe keeping. "Chris? You home?"

Christopher Robin groaned loudly from upstairs. It was a sarcastic groan, like he was tired and was too lazy to respond with words. Andy laughed. He hopped up the carpeted staircase and walked into their media room. Chris was laying on a beanbag reading a book.

Andy hopped into a beanbag next to Christopher and turned on the television. "How was work, buddy?" Andy asked as Chris closed his book and put it aside.

Christopher put his hands behind his head. "Awful. We were super slammed today. Charlotte didn't _feel _like doing any work, and only attended to her tables when Tiana came out of her office. People who were at her tables would ask me to do stuff for them. You wouldn't think it'd be so bad, but when you have ten tables, and she has ten tables, including one table that had all the Dwarves, you start to get annoyed. Really fast."

"Where are Winnie and the others?" asked Andy.

"Downstairs. Probably in the back yard."

"You know what? Let's go get some dinner. I don't feel like cooking for fifteen people, do you? I mean, especially after today," Andy said, standing up.

Chris smiled. "You're right. But we can't eat out any more after this." Andy offered his hand to pull Chris up from the beanbag, and they both went down the stairs to call the toys for a special dinner at Hatter and Hare's.

The boys had been having some difficulties with money lately. Since most of the toys didn't work, (aside from Kanga, who babysat, Rabbit, who sold his carrots, and a few odd jobs that the others did sometimes), their only source of income were the two older boys.

Their house was one of the biggest in Disneyland, besides the castles that were saved for the princes and princesses. Hardly anyone had a two story house. And who had fifteen mouths to feed? One of those fifteen being a bear who could never tell when he had gotten his fill. Eating out for them was a special treat, even if it was just at Hatter and Hare's.

The Doorknob, the host, gave them verbal directions to their table, after, of course, insulting them upon not knowing the proper way to grip a doorknob.

They sat down at a large semi-circle booth, and, after waiting for quite a while, were greeted by an out of breath waittress.

She held up her orders notebook in front of her face, obviously trying to write down the orders from the last table she had finished, as she spouted out in the fastest manner possible, "Hello-welcome-to Hatter-and-Hare's-where-the-food-isn't-all-that-great-but-the-tea-is-crazy-good-my-name-is-Alice-I'll-be-your-waittress-tonight-sorry-for-the-wait-what-would-you-all-like-to-drink?" With the word "drink", she finished the order she was writing down, and at last looked at the table of customers before her.

"Oh, hi, Andy!" she said, smiling at him.

Andy was so taken aback by this that he sat there for a few moments with his mouth open. No one seemed to notice. Then he answered quickly, "We'll all have water, thank you."

Alice looked baffled, cocked her head to the side, whipped around, and zoomed off.

Christopher shot Andy a weird glance. The toys didn't take part this conversation. They were too busy looking for whatever honey might be on the table for an already hungry Pooh Bear.

"What was that, man? I was going to order tea."

"Sorry. I..." he hastily thought up a lie, "I just thought we were going to get water. We always do. Besides, it'll be cheaper than tea."

Christopher still looked puzzled. "The only reason any one comes here is the tea. Are you feeling alright, dude?"

Alice came back again, out of breath, but this time, she balanced a glass of water on her head, two on her shoulders, and carried the rest of them on a tray. To Andy's surprise, she was able to place all of them on the table in the proper places without spilling.

"Fifteen glasses of water. Is that right?" Andy nodded. "Are you sure you wouldn't like any tea?"

Andy sat and stared at her. He didn't hear anything she was saying, really. Her golden hair was backlit, making her look angelic. He had never seen her wear anything but her little blue dress. Her classy black dress made her look older and more graceful. She had smiled at him. He wondered if she would ever do it again...

He came out of his daze and realized that Alice had left. He turned to see Chris staring at him quizically. "Okay, Andy, something's up. Spill."

Alice was back with the tea that Christopher had apparently ordered while Andy was in dreamland. She reached across the table and couldn't quite reach Chris, so Andy put his hand over hers where she had a hold on the cup, and handed it to Chris. This caused her to pause a moment.

She blushed a little bit, said a quiet thank you, and ran off. Andy was smiling from ear to ear.

Chris looked back and forth from Andy to where Alice had stood. Then Chris started to smile, just as the smile faded off of Andy's face. Then it was Andy's turn to ask the questions.

"What?" he asked defensively.

"Dude... you like her!" Chris said under his breath.

"What? I do not..."

Christopher Robin crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows. "Look me in the eye and say that again."

Andy instantaneously averted his eyes, which gave him away instantly.

"You like Alice!"

"Shh... Chris! I don't want all of Disneyland to know."

"Since when did you like her?"

"Uh... yesterday, I think. She came into the gallery, and she was nice, and of course pretty, Alice is always pretty. But she didn't act like I was weird, you know? Being accepted is a good feeling. But then I got to thinking about it, and I think I would be really happy with her."

Chris nodded. "Sure. Oh, and by the way, I got your back man. No need to worry about it. Your secret's safe with me. But, you might want to watch out. You're not the only one hoping to win Alice's heart. There are a lot of single guys around here, and Alice is exactly who they want."

"Oh, I know. I'll be careful." Andy said. He felt better now that he told someone.

Alice came back after a long while with the receipt and said, "Okay, now you all can get ten percent off of your dinner tonight if you can tell me why a raven's like a writing desk. It's a restaurant tradition."

Andy thought for a split second, although he already knew the answer. This wasn't his first time at Hatter and Hare's, and he had been asked the question before, but had never come up with the answer. He had dwelt on it during his tough day at Rapunzel's.

"Because Poe wrote on both."

Alice said, "Ooh, sor... wait, what did you say?"

Andy grinned. "Because Poe wrote on both."

She was stunned. "That's right! We've never had _anyone_ guess that. Ever. Congratulations!"

Andy, Chris and the toys all enjoyed their dinner, mainly because it wasn't one they had to cook, but also because it was ten percent off, and they went home happy and full. And Andy left with a little more joy in his heart.

* * *

He sat up in a tall tree overlooking the camp. There were several tents, some big, some small, depending on the size and number of the people sleeping in them. There was a campfire in the middle. The smoke was one of the reasons why he had found their camp. These people didn't know how to live in the woods.

The camp's inhabitant's dinner turned on a spit over the fire. It looked like a meager amount for such a large group.

Most of the campers were in their tents, resting, talking, who knows. A tall man with a deep voice was watching the fire as he turned the rows of meat. Two quarreling girls came from somewhere in the forest whining and complaining. They had a basket of berries and wild vegetables they had found.

_It has been over twenty four hours since I entered the forest. There are no signs of Disneyland anywhere. I am a good twelve hours deep into the forest. The villains have set up a camp with many tents and a central campfire. I do not know their plans yet. They may move later. Gaston is obviously in charge of finding their meat. I don't know why, but they send Anastasia and Drizella to find other sources of food. Maybe they're good for nothing else. I am doing fine. I have found plenty of water and food. They have not spotted me. I am hiding._

_ Philip_

He closed the journal quietly and slid it into his leather knapsack. He had found a good hideaway in the tree and had been hiding ever since he spotted the villain's camp.

After Kida was shot, he chased after Gaston for a good while, but had eventually lost both Gaston and his tracks. Philip wandered in the general direction that he had been going, and soon noticed the tall stack of smoke building in the sky. Following that, he found their camp. Before he had staked out, however, he stocked up on berries and filled his canteen with water from a stream.

Now, all the villains had come out from their tents and began their pitiful feast. Philip watched them all, holding his breath because they were all so close. His back was finally beginning to ache. He had been sitting on that tree limb for hours and hours, and he was tired. He waited anxiously for the villains to go to bed so that he could readjust himself.

Although he was armed with a sword and shield, he had no plan for attack. He had been trained well... to fight one or two. Fighting twenty villains or so was a death wish.

Philip had a cramp in his leg. Some of the villains ate so loudly, smacking their food, that he convinced himself that he could move to get comfortable.

He had to climb down the apple tree a little bit, carefully, as not to alert Shan Yu, who was sitting directly below the tree, to his location. He jumped on one of the lower branches to get back to his spot. To his delight, he did this noiselessly, and strattled the branch, and looked back down to survey his enemy.

Shan Yu sat, rubbing his head. A few of the villains, mainly Shan Yu's henchmen, the Huns, came to him, asking him what had happened.

Philip strained his ears to listen. In Shan Yu's broken English, he told them that an apple had landed on his head. A few of the Huns looked upward, and much to their surprise, and Philip's, they saw him... sitting on the branch.

They said something under their breath to Mother Gothel, who went inside a tent and came back out with a stick and a dart. Next thing he knew, Philip was feeling dizzy... and sleepy. He fell right out of the tree.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Thank you all for reading! It gives me such encouragement to keep writing, it really does. I was out of town two weeks ago, and when I got back, I worked a sports camp, so I've been busy and tired, and that's right, you guessed it, uninspired to write. But I had a free weekend, which is about how long it takes me to write a chapter because I'm such perfectionist. Sorry if this chapter is a little cheesy, I'm new to the romance genre. But the idea (you'll know which one after you read) hit me, and I couldn't help but put it in. :) I think it's cute, and I would love it if a guy did it for me, so, there's my explanation. Now, read the story, please. :D**

Philip woke up to darkness. He tried closing and reopening his eyes just to make sure, but his eyesight was not the problem. Shifting from left to right, he noticed that his head was covered.

The villains had removed his shirt and his shoes, and he sat on the ground with his feet bound and his hands tied behind his back to whatever it was he was leaning against. He strained his ears, using all his senses like he had learned in Phil's training.

He was inside, because there was no sun on his back and muffled voices outside. He tried to focus in on their conversation, but he could only hear certain words.

"Question... Hollow... Jafar will...should be waking..." and then he heard clearly when they came closer, "Okay, let's do this."

He heard the flap of a tent brush against someone entering, then flap shut again. There was a short silence, then the sound of footsteps on grass approaching Philip.

Suddenly there was light, and Philip shut his eyes quickly, then tried to squint back into the face that had removed his cover. He saw light grey eyes peering back into his. He was tempted to flinch at first, but held his glare. "So," Mother Gothel began, "Why were you in that tree, dear Prince Philip?"

Philip held his glare but said nothing. Mother Gothel nodded, smiling slyly, "Yes, I knew you would be like this. Being silent won't help you dear. I already know why you are here." She pulled his journal from behind her back. He felt his heart slip into his stomach.

She began to read aloud, "'_I chased after Gaston after he shot Kida. I have been able to find the camp of the villains. Hopefully this will provide insight into their plans.'_" She turned to Philip. "Do you always write that mechanically? Aurora is creative, right? Maybe she could give you creative writing lessons." She laughed as she threw the book into Philip's face. Philip stared at her and snarled.

"Don't talk about Aurora," he said defensively under his breath. Mother Gothel ignored his comment and kept talking.

"So, tell me Philip. What do you know about Pixie Hollow?" She spun on her heel quickly to face him.

Philip remained silent. "Still on mute, then? Okay then, I think Jafar needs to have a word with you."

Philip had not noticed the tall man with his golden snake staff. Jafar had hidden himself in the shadows of the tent, so that you could only tell he was there from the twinkle of his eyes and the whiteness of his creepy smile.

Jafar came to stand in front of Philip and stretched out his staff until it was right in front of Philip's eyes. He tried to look away from the red eyes of the serpent, but as soon as they started to glow, Philip couldn't take his eyes off of them.

They put him at ease. It controlled him. Suddenly, he felt that the two people in the room with him were his best friends.

"Pixie Hollow is quiet. The fairies aren't much of a threat. The trees are thin but provide good protection. It's easy to access Disneyland from there." There was part of Philip's brain that was sceptical. Everything he just said was true, but the question was, why did he say it like that? He tried to shake off the friendly feeling, but Jafar pressed the staff even closer to Philip's face.

"Very good, Philip. Next question. Why were you and the other heroes out in the Outlands?" Mother Gothel almost purred.

Philip answered immediately. "We were looking for you. King Mickey had noticed the quiet from the villains and told Phil to search the Outlands."

Mother Gothel clapped. "One more. Does Mickey suspect that we are coming from Pixie Hollow?"

"No." Jafar took his staff away and Philip shook his head.

Before Philip could get any bearings on what had just happened, he felt a prick in his arm and began to feel very sleepy.

Things went back to darkness again and he felt the heavy canvas sack on his head. Before he slipped off, he heard Gothel say, "Let's pack up camp. We have a long walk ahead of us."

* * *

Aurora believed it now. She believed Philip was gone. And so she was sad. And so she cried. All the time.

She was staying with Belle in her Mansion. Aurora went for walks all day, exploring the castle, never seeing the same thing twice. Exploring made her think of Philip.

Everything made her think of Philip. Seeing Belle and Adam and how happy they were together, or even just Belle's huge garden... simply because she and Philip had met in a similar place.

Although he had only been missing for a little over forty-eight hours, she felt he was again only a figment in her dreams.

Belle had closed Belle's Books until Philip returned. It was better for Aurora that way.

* * *

Alice woke up to face her pink ceiling. Everything in their house was pink. Or yellow. Sometimes she got sick of it. Today, she felt like being outside.

She had slept in. She had the weekends off.

Alice spent a good amount of time convincing herself to get out of bed. Eventually, she concluded that she was accomplishing nothing by not sleeping and not getting up. She rolled out of her blue bed, sliding on her bunny slippers and her soft blue robe.

She walked into the living room. Wendy was sprawled across a chair, reading a book. "Well, it's about time, Ms. Liddell! The coffee is getting cold. Would you like some?" Alice shook her head and kept walking through to the kitchen.

She made herself a hasty breakfast of scrambled eggs, then got ready to head out. She just wanted to get out today. For no reason at all.

Alice quickly changed into a blue sundress, a floppy sunhat and some gold flip flops. She let her hair have a break from the headband. She left in a haste to get no where.

* * *

Wilbur Robinson sat, leaning against a tree on his favorite hill, overlooking Disney Square. He had grown up. He was no longer a short, narrow kid with a haircut like the top of a Dairy Queen ice cream cone.

No, Wilbur had changed. He had cut his hair shorter, and now spiked it, although it was still as black as ever. His jaw had squared and widened, his shoulders broadened, and he was now a good six foot two. His arms weren't buff, but they weren't the noodles that they used to be.

Wilbur was a good-looking teenager, now. And oh, did girls notice. But Wilbur only paid attention to one.

He caught a glimpse of her hair, shimmering in the sunshine. And, how odd, she was by herself. Not with Eilonwy or Wendy? This opportunity was too great for Wilbur to pass up. He stood, brushed off his dark jeans, and headed down the hill.

* * *

Alice was heading towards a huge flyer that was posted on the community board in the Shopping District. It took up a good three-fourths of the five-by-five foot corkboard.

She reached the flyer. It read, "This Monday! The Annual Disneyland Gala held at the Pavillion in Disney Square. Tickets for sale at select businesses and restaurants in the Shopping District. Only three Disneydollars! Starts at seven. Tickets also for sale at door, but they may sell out. Bring your sweetheart or come by yourself to have a great time dancing and mingling with all of Disneyland!"

Of course! The Gala _was_ set for Thursday, but that was the day that the heroes had set out, so it was cancelled. Alice couldn't believe she had forgotten. She needed to get a dress...

"Well, well, looking at the Gala poster, I see?" She knew that voice. Sadly. She turned slowly after putting the most genuine looking smile she could muster.

"Hi, Wilbur. Yes, I'm looking at the poster. I forgot all about the Gala! Do you plan on attending?" She folded her arms defensively. It was no secret that Wilbur had a thing for Alice. He stared at her for longer than necessary, seemed to pop up _very _frequently, and had tried on many occasions to impress her, always resulting in failure.

"I only go if I have someone to go with me. What about you? Are you going? You're sure to have a date already, as beautiful as you are."

Alice blushed, but not in delight. "No actually, no one's asked." Inside of her head, she was thinking, "Please-don't-ask-me-please-don't-ask-me..."

"How about you make me the happiest young man in Disneyland and go with me?" He shot her a white wide smile that would have melted the heart of any other girl in Disneyland _but _Alice.

She held her hand out, as if to keep him back. "No, I'm sorry. I... I think I'm coming down with something." She coughed for added effect, "Yeah, sounds pretty bad. I don't think I'll be able to attend. But hey, you could always ask Wendy. Peter and her have been broken up for a long time now."

Wilbur tried not to show how angry he was. He wasn't sad... he was _mad_. How dare she reject _him?_

"Oh, yeah, well..." he was having trouble bringing sentences together, "I think I may have to take someone else. Maybe Wendy. I don't know. I'll have to think of someone."

He folded his arms and set his broad jaw and avoided her eye contact. She blushed harder. "Yes, well, goodbye Wilbur." She slid past his tall frame, running.

* * *

That was enough human interaction for the day. Alice ran all the way back to her cottage, locking the yellow and pink door behind her.

Wendy was still in the living room reading. "That was short," she said, greeting her friend with a questioning look on her face. "Is there something you need to talk about?"

"No, not at all." Alice slowly made her way to the empty couch facing Wendy. She sat there for about ten seconds, fiddling with her dress, until she exploded. "Okay, okay!"

Wendy sat up, straightened her skirts, then looked intently at Alice. "Alright, let's hear it."

Alice talked at a hundred miles an hour. "So, I saw the poster for the Gala in the Shopping District... I had completely forgotten all about it! And I stood there for too long, I should have known he was watching... Wilbur came and asked me! And I lied and said that I was sick, and that I couldn't go, even though I really wanted to go, just not with him. And now, I'm going to miss out on a really fun night all because of him, and ooh! he makes me so mad... I told him he should ask you, Wendy, because I know you think he's cute..."

Wendy was laughing. "Woah, woah, slow down! You overreact to these things. You can still go. Chances are, he knew you were lying. He's actually a pretty smart boy, and you are a terrible liar. I don't mind going with him. I've never had a problem with him. You just stop your pretty little head from worrying. We'll both go get dresses tomorrow from Happily Ever After." Wendy smiled. "But who would you want to go wi..."

There was a knock at the door. Alice's eyes grew, worried that it might be Wilbur, but Wendy saw her and reprimanded her, then answered the door. After a few moments of silence, Wendy returned with a wide grin on her face and holding both of her hands behind her back.

"What?" Alice asked.

"It's for you, Ali." Wendy pulled out a bouqet of blue wildflowers from behind her. On it was a note.

Alice took it dubiously, then read it. In clear cursive written in blue ink was, "Alice, I would love if you would attend the Gala with me on Monday. You don't have to accept, but if you want to, leave one of the flowers on your doorstep. I will bring myself out of anonymity at the Gala. I hope you will consider it."

After reading it over and over, Wendy made her read it aloud. They sat there for a few moments. "Well, go put the flower on the doorstep! Hurry! The poor boy's waiting!"

"Hold on, hold on, I'm not so sure that it's not Wilbur," Alice said with a cautious air.

Wendy raised her eyebrows. "Ali, Wilbur doesn't have a romantic bone in his body. His pride would never allow for him to do anything like _that_." Wendy nodded towards the flowers.

After a few more moments of silence, Alice took a deep breath, pulled one of the blue wildflowers from the bouquet, and headed for the door. Opening the door, she looked around outside, she looked for any signs of the mysterious romantic, then carefully set the bright blue wildflower on the doormat.

She stepped back inside, quietly closing the door behind her.

A few moments later, a young man ran quickly and noiselessly to her doorstep, took the flower, and ran away again, full of joy, holding the flower close to his heart.

* * *

Tinker Bell was about to finish her work for the day. She had been tinkering away since early this morning. This week was strangely busy.

From her work station, she could see Silvermist finishing her watery duties, Fawn, putting the animals to sleep, Terrance dusting himself off from all the pixie dust, Iridessa setting the sun, and Rosetta was closing the flowers' petals. Things in Pixie Hollow were beautiful and peaceful. Everything was done on time, but no one was in a rush for anything. Everyone did their job, and everyone got along, even Vidia and Tink could, most of the time, bear to look at each other.

The villains had left early that morning for Pixie Hollow. They would be arriving at any moment. They had no trouble finding the place. They could see the fairies flying overhead, sending out a golden stream of glittery substance as they went.

They had decided that they were through with Philip. They no longer needed him. The villains had left him in a daze not long ago somewhere in the woods.

* * *

Philip tried to work through his stupor and head straight for Disneyland. He stumbled. His bare chest and arms were cut by branches and trunks that he ran into because of his foggy sight. He eventually smelled a greasy odor coming over the trees from what had to be Kronk's spinach puff cart.

He headed straight for that, thinking of Aurora all the way.

* * *

Aurora sat on a bench in Disney Square, looking at the stars. She was by herself. Sometimes, she missed Philip so much that she swore she could hear his voice. It would say things like, "I love you," or, "I miss you." Tonight it was saying over and over, getting louder and louder, "Aurora! Aurora! Aurora!"

It was getting really loud. It had never seemed this close before. Maybe someone was actually calling her. She looked around, then stopped as soon as the saw movement coming from the Shopping District.

Something, or someone had knocked over poor Kronk and his spinach puff cart, and was running towards her. His hair was disheveled, his pants torn, his feet bare, his chest scratched and bleeding, but... could it be?

She found herself running, too. She was screaming his name back at him. "Philip! Philip! Philip!" Until they at last hit each other, both still running at full speed. He swung her up and around in the air, then pulled her close to him. After a moment, Philip focused again on his mission.

"Aurora, we have to go... we need to leave, we need to get to the palace right now. We have to tell Mickey." He was pulling her by the hand, forcing her to run to her full ability.

"What? Why?"

He didn't look back. "They're coming, from Pixie Hollow. The villains are planning to attack."


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: I know this is a short chapter, but it was kind of rushed. I'm about to head on a long trip, and I wanted to post something before I left to appease my audience. Also, if you like this story, I've been writing on a new one. It's a Harry Potter fic about Hermione and Cormac McLaggen. Go read, if you'd like. I'd like lots of reviews on both stories. Oh, and I have a poll on my profile. If you have a few extra seconds, go vote on which story you'd like to see me do a fanfic on next. Thanks! Oh, and I'm going to put pictures on of Alice and Wendy in their dresses on my profile. :)**

As soon as Philip reached the Palace, Mickey readied the heroes for immediate action.

The heroes were quickly assembled and ready to attack with their weapons, and moved out within ten minutes of Philip's warning. On their way, Peter Pan and the Lost Boys knocked on doors for any others who were willing to lend a hand and defend against the Villains. No one was willing.

The battle was surprisingly short. In their haste, the villains had no battle plan besides attack. Many of the villains fled right away, (Anastasia and Drizella were the first to go, followed unexpectedly by Shan Yu and the Huns), and a few stayed.

There were all kinds of weapons and ammo being fired between the two lines. Arrows were alongside bullets as they passed two people who were engaging in hand to hand combat. Magic was an interesting factor, as it turned Edward into a frog. Peter fought Captain Hook's fearsome sword with a small dagger. It was the first battle in a long time, and fighters on both sides forgot how odd the warfare actually looked like.

After Maleficent got hit by a bullet just above her left knee, the rest of the villainous troop retreated. It was obvious they were not going to win that war.

Philip helped during the battle as much as he could. He was exhausted afterwards, and dragged his feet as he slowly walked home.

"Home," he thought. "What a wonderful place to be." He was ecstatic to be home with his wife, to wake up beside her and see her gentle face as she slept. It was understood that Philip was not to come to work tomorrow. He had been working overtime for the past few days, and obviously needed rest.

He intended to spend every minute of that rest with Aurora.

Aurora could sleep, for the first time in days. Philip was safe. Philip was home. Philip was right beside her, unharmed. She respected the man even more now, after hearing what he had been through. She saw that their main of income was more than just that... it was a way to protect those who could not do so for themselves... including her. It made her love him all the more.

* * *

This morning, Wilbur woke up with the same thoughts in his head as he did the night before.

He had seen Andy running away from Alice's house with the blue wildflower clutched to his chest. He had seen him leave the bouquet for her in the first place. He was watching as Alice opened the door and left the flower for him.

What did this mean? Obviously, it was something between Alice and Andy. Andy was being shy. He never saw her face, and she never saw his. But what was the significance in the flower?

It had to be something to do with the Gala. That was the next big thing happening in Disneyland.

But why would Andy ask Alice? Everyone knew she was _way _out of his league. The boy was quiet, strange, awkward. Maybe that's why they never talked.

Suddenly, it clicked for Wilbur. He was making his own blind date. He was playing secret admirer. Wilbur wondered if there was any way possible to intercept that idea from Andy and use it as an advantage for himself...

* * *

Alice and Wendy woke up an hour before Happily Ever After was even open. They got ready, taking their time with everything, ate a good breakfast, and headed out on the long journey.

Happily Ever After was one of the biggest shops around. It was known as the best clothing store, considering the only other place to buy clothes was from Genie's Emporium, and Genie didn't have the best sense in style.

Other people could make clothes for you, but it wouldn't turn out as well. The workers at Happily Ever After knew what they were doing.

The shop itself was situated comfortably between Genie's Emporium and Ariel's Trinkets. Between the deep purple of Genie's and the dark blue of Ariel's, the light pink and white shop really stood out.

The shop was owned and operated by Giselle. She had Jaq and Gus working some days, while the Three Good Faries worked others. Both sets of employees mainly designed, while Giselle did all the sewing. Aruging sisters and tiny mice couldn't always get the job done.

But Giselle got good business, and she loved her job. Going inside the doors of Happily Ever After was always a fun time.

That was why Alice and Wendy could enter with smiles on their faces. They were greeted with a large smile from the redhead, and, after she asked them what they wanted, began taking their measurements immediately.

Alice, of course, wanted something blue. A light blue. Something that would flatter her, but not something that would cling to her. It had to be flowy on the bottom. She wanted summery sleeves as well, some that wouldn't bother her in the summertime heat. It needed to reach the floor. No one wore anything other than floor-length dresses to the Gala.

Wendy wanted pink. Or yellow. Or green. She really couldn't decide. In the end, she chose on a dark green fabric. She wanted hers more form-fitting than Alice, and picked out a longer, tighter sleeve.

Today, the Three Good Faries were working. "My goodness!" Flora exclaimed. "You two have grown so quickly. And look how beautiful you are! You would look so wonderful in pink." And with a wave of her wand, turned the fabric Merryweather was fitting on Alice into a light shade of pink.

Merryweather shot Flora a poisonous glance and turned Alice's dress instantly back to blue. Fauna wasn't going to miss out on this color war for once. She hit Alice's dress with a bit of magic, which made it turn lime green.

That was how it continued until Giselle emerged from her office after drawing up the receipts for the two girls, and she saw what was unfolding. "Oh dears, can we please get along? The girls asked for a green dress and a blue dress. I'm sorry Flora, but there's been no order for pink today. Surely you must get sick of pink. We get, what, five orders for pink... in a day? Let Fauna and Merryweather have their fun."

At this, Merryweather stuck her tongue out at Flora. Giselle caught her and reprimanded her and told them all to get back to work... gently, of course.

They were quick about their work, and soon, as more people started their day, a line formed outside the store, no doubt people wanting to get their dresses and suits as well before the Gala tomorrow.

Alice and Wendy paid and walked quickly home, giggling all the way with speculations about who the mystery man could be, and what he would think of Alice in the dress, and how jealous Wilbur would be, and how when he saw Wendy and how lovely she looked, everything would be mended.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: Okay, so I've been away for a while. So here's a nice long chapter to satisfy my readers. **

**Just a little side note, I listened to "Nemo Egg" by Thomas Newman while writing the latter part of this chapter, (you'll know why when you get there), and I highly suggest reading it with the music playing, too. It goes great with the scene.**

**This chapter was fun to write. Thank you all for reading!**

Preparations were underway early in the morning on Monday, the day of the Annual Disneyland Gala. It was tradition for the princesses to set up the decorations in the Pavillion, but some, such as Kida and Pocahontas, were not keen with girly things such as decorations. So, as normal, those who were categorized as "castle princesses" were the ones to set up for the celebration.

Giselle hummed and sang as she swept the floor clean, and bumped into clumsy Snow White, who was on the ladder, hanging up balloons. Cinderella rushed around with her clipboard, (she was in charge of it all), and looked around nervously to make sure everything was getting done. Tiana was at her restaurant making beignets, gumbo, and a bunch of different meals that would make up the buffet.

Everything was done in a few hours, with just enough time for the princesses to go home and ready themselves for the most looked-forward to evening of the year.

* * *

"Ow!" Wendy yelled, and dropped her curling iron on the floor. She had burnt her finger in the process of doing her hair, and was now sucking her finger on one hand while the other reached to pick up the hot instrument.

Alice was trying her hair in a bunch of different ways, up, down, half up and half down... there were so many possibilities! At least she had come to one conclusion... wear it straight. Eventually she forgot it all and let it down, with nothing on it or in it.

Wendy burned her fingers a few more times before she came into Alice's bathroom, showing Alice her hair. She had parts loose around her face, and these were curled. The rest of her brown hair was pulled into a low, tight bun.

"Well done! I think I'm going to leave mine down. Maybe you can help me with my makeup. I'm not good at it." Wendy looked excited and ran back to her bathroom to get her makeup kit. She always liked to do other people's makeup.

The best thing about having Wendy make Alice up was that she was fast. She flawlessly applied a pale shade of liquid foundation, and evenly dusted it with pale powder. She swiped on brown eyeshadow, doing a bunch of intricate accent colors that Alice couldn't understand, let alone accomplish. She ran the smallest amount of eyeliner along Alice's top eyelid and a little in the corner of the lower lid.

Alice always hated mascara. When Wendy tried to apply it, she involuntarily closed her eyelid, something in her subconscious telling her that it was going to hurt her eyes, and so the mascara would go everywhere over Alice's eyelids. Eventually, Wendy made Alice do it herself, and after Wendy cleaned up the askew mascara with a q-tip.

Wendy was finished in ten minutes, and then went to do her own. Eilonwy would probably want Wendy to help her with her makeup, as well. Eilonwy would try to impress Taran at this dance yet again, and he would fall even further for her. She didn't realise how infatuated he was with her already.

Alice slid into her silky sky blue gown, and asked Eilonwy, who was getting her foundation done by Wendy, to zip her up. She put on two inch heels, (she hated heels, even if they were only two inches, but this wasn't the kind of dress you could wear with flats), which were white and strappy. She put on her pearl stud earrings and their matching necklace, and she looked at herself in the mirror.

She wondered if her admirer would know to wear blue to match her. She wondered if he knew her well enough that he knew that blue was the only color she would consider wearing. She wondered if it was _his_ favorite color. She imagined her dancing with a stranger, tall and handsome. She pictured the perfect night.

But she also envisioned Wilbur, with his obnoxious jokes, with his cocky swagger, with his constant flirtations. She hoped more than anything that it wasn't him. She pictured Peter, dressed in his nicer green tunic, but she hoped it wasn't him, either. He was immature and childish.

She was relieved at the thought of it being someone like Christopher Robin. She laughed as her mind wandered to Mowgli, awkwardly asking her to dance in his "dressy" loin cloth.

It was no use worrying about it, she figured, and in the end, sat upright, (so to not mess up her hair, dress or makeup), for the remaining time with Wendy and Eilonwy as they finished getting ready.

* * *

Wilbur straightened his light blue bow tie, which contrasted with his black suit. He thought himself particularly good-looking tonight. He smoothed his (normally spiked) hair back. He looked like a secret agent. He was making gun poses in his bathroom mirror when Lewis knocked on his door.

"Hey, we need to go if we're going to make it. Are you almost ready?" Lewis's tenor voice cried from the other side of the door.

Wilbur swung the door open, a bit embarrased, although his friend hadn't seen him, and replied, using a much deeper voice than necessary, "Y-yes, I'm ready." He turned the light out behind him and walked with Lewis out of the house.

Wilbur had spent all of yesterday figuring out a plan. It was simple, but sometimes simplicity worked the best. He was _supposed _to attend the Gala with Wendy, but if his plan worked out, Wendy wouldn't be a hindrance between him and Alice.

He figured that Alice would be wearing blue. There _seemed_ to be a recurring theme with her and the color blue, but he wasn't so sure. He wore his blue bow tie just to be safe. He could, most likely, convice Alice that he was the mysterious young man who had placed the flower on her doorstep.

He knew Alice was not gullible, but her judgment was probably down because of nervousness.

He knew Andy would not stand up to him. Andy was shy and quiet. He would let him enjoy his evening. That, and Andy had no proof that _he _was the admirer.

Wendy would forget all about Wilbur and try to get Peter to go out with her... _again._ Alice would have to stay with him. And when he wooed her with his brilliant charm, she was sure to be his girlfriend.

* * *

Andy sat nervously in one of the chairs in the Pavillion, twiddling the blue wildflower back and forth between his thumb and forefinger, making it spin.

He was nervous. He never did things like this. Something had gotten into him. But, he figured, it was a good something. Especially if this little plan worked.

He was proud of himself: his heart was only going very fast. He thought it would have exploded right out of his chest first thing this morning whenever he thought about his task he had set before himself for today. And then he saw Alice.

* * *

Sebastian stood on a pedestal to take tickets at the door. The tickets had sold out days ago, and he had to send many sad faces away. Wendy and Alice walked up to him, arm in arm.

"Well, don-cha two girls look lovely, tah-night?" Sebastian said, while ripping the tickets in half and giving each back a ticket stub. "Have fun!" he called after them as they entered. Wendy immediately distracted herself with one of her friends, who was sitting down in a chair off of the dance floor.

Alice's heart was beating loudly, but steadily, in her chest. She took a cursory look around. Strings of lights were hung up around the ceiling of the Pavillion, which was decorated with purple and gold streamers and balloons. She didn't feel she had the time to look around at decorations, though. She had someone to meet.

* * *

Wilbur looked at Alice as he was waiting in line. She looked lovely, she looked innocent, she looked... vulnerable. She was ready, basically asking to fall for his trap.

* * *

Andy debated with himself for the longest time. When he saw Alice, alone and... (what word to use? Beautiful would be too subtle), his heart stopped. Half from fear, yes, but the other half was from her presence alone.

He _had _to go now. But did he really? Two sides of his mind, the fearful and the enthralled, battled with each other inside his head. She looked lonely and lost. He wanted to pull her close and dance with her right away, but he was too afraid. He had to make a move before someone else took the chance...

* * *

Alice felt a warm hand on her bare shoulder. "Well, well, someone looks lovely tonight." She knew that voice. Too well, she was afraid.

"Hello, Mr. Robinson. I don't suppose you're looking for Wendy? She's seated _way _over there. I don't know if you can see her. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm looking for some..."

"Yes, I know," Wilbur interrupted. "You're looking for me. The flower?"

Something in Alice wilted. "Oh, you're the one, huh?" She shrank down a little. "Well, regardless, that was very thoughtful of you," she managed to choke out.

* * *

Andy watched as Wilbur strode confidently over to where Alice was standing. He watched Alice's face as it turned to dread. Then Wilbur said something really bad and Alice's face was looking totally dejected. That could only mean one thing. Wilbur was stealing his plan.

He stopped himself. Why was he still sitting down? That was _his _date. No one should be hurting her. Tonight, she was _his _responsibility.

He stood up, instantly angry. He clenched his fists, wrapping his right hand tightly over the stem of the wildflower. He walked quickly over to where Wilbur was standing.

* * *

Alice and Wilbur both saw him coming, but they both viewed him in a different way. Wilbur saw Andy's red face, his clenched fists, his heaving chest. Most importantly, Wilbur saw the wildflower.

Alice saw Andy's broad shoulders, his strong arms, his smooth dirty blonde hair. She saw crystal clear blue eyes, flattered by his black suit and light blue tie. She saw a savior from the problem that was Wilbur.

Andy's fear was gone. He stormed up to Wilbur. Wilbur was a few inches shorter than Andy, but Wilbur had more muscle. He got face to face, almost so close to him that they were nose to nose. "What did you just say to her, Wilbur?"

There was a flash of surprise in Wilbur's eyes, but it was quickly replaced with confidence. "I just told her that she was going to be spending the night as my date. Got a problem with that, Davis?"

Andy puffed his chest out even further. "I do, actually, Robinson. See, I asked Alice to be my date tonight. Which means that she's not yours." He lifted the flower and waved it back and forth between Wilbur's eyes. (Alice noticed the flower and felt redeemed.)

Andy realized what he had said, and turned to Alice nervously. "Not that she's anyone's. She's completely competent on her own... she's independent, and that's one of the reasons why I like her." Alice smiled.

"Well, toy boy, I think we need to let Alice choose for herself. Well, Ms. Liddell? Who's the lucky man?" Wilbur asked arrogantly, folding his arms and getting a smug look on his face.

Alice had to pretend that, for a moment, she would _maybe _choose Wilbur. Which was totally preposterous. But Alice tried to act out the decision as best she could, and in the end, took Andy by the arm and he led her away from Wilbur Robinson, who was already trying to make up for his lost dignity by flirting with Wendy.

Andy led Alice to a table, pulled a chair out for her, pushed her into place, and then sat down himself. "What would you like, Alice? Let me go get your drink and dinner from the buffet." Alice told him what she wanted, and he came back quickly, then went through the line for himself.

When he sat back down, Alice started conversation right away. "Andy... th... thank you so much for rescuing me like that. You could have said nothing. In fact, I didn't think anybody was going to say anything."

"It's no problem. I wasn't about to let him ruin your night. If he bothers you again, let me know," said Andy, cutting into a slice of Tiana's pot pie from the buffet.

They were silent for a little bit, and then Alice asked, "Andy, I must say that I was blown away that you remembered that I like blue wildflowers, from that painting. I never think anyone pays attention to the little details about me. That was a really nice gesture."

"Thank you. I appreciate you accepting. But beyond that, you accepted quickly, which was good for my nerves." Alice smiled at this. "But enough about _how _I asked you. I'm glad you're here. But, I don't really know you that well. So, what do you like to do?"

And with the beginning question, they shared about each other, taking turns with answering and asking, laughing when Andy told the story of how he first received Woody, and Alice telling him of her adventures with her cat, Dinah.

They found that they both like art, the singer Jack Johnson, being outside, reading, tea, and Kronk's spinach puffs. They talked about their opinions on everything ranging from Disneyland's weather to Disneyland's system of defense. Some they agreed on, others they did not, but they listened to the other's reasons for choosing that side. Relationships go hand in hand with understanding.

Soon, music began to play as Naveen and his band began their jumping New Orleans sound, and Alice grabbed Andy's hand, to his surprise, and lead him down to the dance floor.

They moved to the bumping beat, but, as the night grew old, the music became slow, and everyone slowed down with it, mentally and physically.

But Andy was wide awake. He knew what was _supposed _to come with slow dances. He knew he was supposed to put his hand on her waist, and she was supposed to move in closer to him. That word alone gave him chills. _Closer._

He did what he knew to do. He put his warm hand on her waist, and curled her small soft hand into his. She looked into his eyes, smiling. He lead her gracefully back and forth, always turning in a circle, never moving anywhere outside of their one foot radius.

He stayed the same distance back from her, pushing back his wishes to pull her close. Thankfully, after a few minutes she stepped closer into him.

He smelled good. His hands were soft. His breath on her ear was warm. He was warm himself, she noticed, in his embrace. He lead her, and made her feel like she had nothing to worry about.

She was so tired. Not only had it been a long day, it had been a long week. So much had happened. Her eyes began to droop. Alice noticed she could just lay her head on his shoulder. And so she did.

Andy's heart jumped. It was exactly what he had dreamed of when he had asked her to come with him. This night was perfect.

After a few more slow songs, the night was over and everyone went home. Andy walked side by side with Alice, not saying anything, just kicking a rock over and over down the road. After a while, Alice nudged her hand against his and he gently slid his larger hand over her tiny one. And they held hands until they got to her house.

When they reached her doorstep, Alice turned to face him and said, "Thank you, Andy. This evening was wonderful. We'll have to do something like this again."

Andy nodded and said quietly and slowly, "You're welcome. Goodnight." He turned and walked away. Just before he was out of sight, he waved goodbye. And Alice went into her house.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: I meant to put these two parts into the last segment, but it just didn't flow. So, this is short. I probably won't be able to update as frequently due to school, but I'll try. Thanks for the feedback!**

The two bumbling sisters bumped into each other for the thousandth time.

"Drizzy, that was your fault!" Anastasia yelled, shoving her sister, causing Drizella to hit a nearby tree.

Neither one were looking very presentable. Anastasia's red hair flew everywhere. Drizella's normally neat black hair hung about her face, greasy and sweaty. It was hot out in these woods.

"Was not!" Drizella screetched after getting up, and she rammed into Anastasia's side, knocking her to the ground.

They both sat there for a moment, flapping their hands towards the other, while they both looked away with their eyes closed. When they stopped, they both looked at each other with sad faces and started to cry.

Why? It was dark, it was humid, and they had been in the forest for a full twenty four hours. They were lost.

When they had fled from the battle, they apparently had headed in the wrong direction, and were now completely separated from the villains. They were hungry, dirty and tired. They just wanted to go home.

"Come on, Ana. We're never going to get anywhere if we just sit here and cry. They can't be _too_ far away... I mean, how big can this forest really be?" Drizella said, patting her sister's head. She was having a hard time fooling herself, but Anastasia seemed to accept it.

"Okay. I guess you're right. Let's keep going." They trudged to where they thought was the right direction, still clumsily falling on one another from time to time.

"Hey, Drizzy, do you see that?" asked Anastasia, peering far off into the distance.

Drizella squinted her eyes. "Yeah, is that... a person?"

The closer they got, they realized it _was _a person! They ran for him, thinking full-heartedly that it was one of the villains... perhaps Gaston? Jafar? Hook? Hades? Even Mike Yagoobian would be a pleasant sight out in these forsaken woods.

Coming close to him, they realized it wasn't one of them after all. The young man stood a few inches over them, handsome even in the night. His dark brown hair hung in a short ponytail on his neck. With his long arms folded, there stood Jim Hawkins right in front of them.

* * *

Everybody in the Palace was rushing about today, making preparations for the two big events for today. Tonight, only a few hours away, every citizen of Disneyland would congregate in the Palace, wondering what could be going on. But Mickey knew. Mickey was the only one who knew.

They were great things, yes, but two things that he didn't want to mess up. Philip and Aurora, who were in on one of the secrets, were looking at him worriedly. "Your Highness, if it's too much stress for you to do both, then let us make our announcement another night." He put both of his hands on Aurora's shoulders. "We can wait as long as you need us to."

"No, Philip. It's not your announcement that's worrying me," Mickey said. "Don't worry... we'll have you and Aurora speak tonight. It's just that..."

He stopped himself. He wanted the other secret to be a surprise. "Go home. Get rest. Think about what you're going to say. I have plenty of volunteers here to help me decorate and cook. It'll be fun!" Mickey said, trying to sound excited, but sounded exhausted instead.

Philip nodded slowly and Aurora put her hand on Mickey's. "Don't worry. It'll all turn out." They left quickly and quietly.

* * *

A few hours later, the throne room was filled with people. The tables that lined the walls had two cakes, one pink and blue on the outside with Aurora and Philip's names written in icing. The other was dark blue and dark green alternating tiers. No one knew what that one was for.

Different kinds of foods were mixed all together, some that the characters had never even heard of before. What was haggis?

When everyone took a seat and quieted down, Mickey stood in front of them on the platform before his throne. "Good evening, everyone! I'm sure you all are wondering what could be going on." Everyone nodded. "Well, I have two very exciting things for us, tonight."

It got eerily silent. Mickey gestured to Philip and Aurora who were standing off the throne platform. They slowly came up to the front of the platform. Aurora tentatively took Philip's hand, looking out at the crowd only in small occasional glances.

"The first has to do with this lovely couple. Philip," Mickey added, prompting the young man to begin speaking.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. Well, as you all know," he shuffled his feet a little bit, "Aurora and I have been married for some time. And, well, we decided it's time to have a child. Aurora is going to have a baby!" His excitement and enthusiastic spirit was obvious in the last sentence.

The crowd, as expected, erupted in all kinds of noise, applause, cheering, the sound of fur hitting fur as the lions tried to clap, sitting back on their haunches. Aurora beamed and her face grew red. After a few minutes of continuous cheering, the noise never fading in the least, Philip raised his hands to quiet the citizens. "But that's not all! The cake placed on the table by the wall is colored either blue or pink inside. When we cut it, it will show which we are having. Everyone ready?"

Minnie stood by the cake with a cake knife in her hands, standing on a chair in order to reach it, ready to cut it even though it was twice her stature. Gently, she pushed into the bottom tier of the cake, then moving a little to get a good sized slice. She pulled it out, laying it on a crystal plate. It was blue!

Once again, the crowd erupted in a joyous din. Aurora and Philip exited the stage and took their place in two chairs in the front row. Mickey silenced the crowd. "The other surprise is one of a different kind. I don't know where she is but..."

At that moment, a huge bang sounded from the back of the throne room. Everyone wheeled their heads around, follwing Mickey's appalled stare.

On a huge black horse, with her bow and arrow at the ready, a girl with wild orange hair aimed it at the crown on the top of Mickey's head. She let go faster than the audience could see, and the arrow knocked off the crown, leaving no scratch on the shocked king.

She rode swiftly down the aisle, stopping in front of the throne platform. She slid off the horse, petting his nose and looking boldly into the eyes of Mickey, who had just found his words.

"Here she is! Disneyland, I'd like to welcome our newest citizen, Princess Merida of Scotland. Please welcome her here as she adjusts to life in Disneyland. Thank you!"

Everyone was impressed with her opening display, and because Mickey was so accepting of her, everyone else was, too.

They cut the blue and green cake, which was obviously based on Merida's dress, and revealed red velvet cake, as vivid as the hair on the princess herself. People together celebrated the welcoming of a new baby and a new Disneylander.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: Wow, I didn't realize that this was so long until I saw the word count on here. So, prepare for a long chapter. Sorry for the wait, by the way. School's crazy.**

**I've been reading this one story for research on Jim Hawkins, and kind of got carried away. It's called "Fearless" by OMGitsEMILY, (I think I spelled her username right). I haven't seen Treasure Planet in forever, and since the movie's not on YouTube, I wanted to make sure my characterization of Jim was right.**

**This will be the last of Andy and Alice for a while. I'm moving on to a whole new set of story lines, and will develop those characters for a while, then will come back to Andy and Alice somewhere in the future. I've already started planning (and foreshadowing) the end. :) But don't worry, the end is still FAR FAR off in the future. This story is bound to last a _while._**

**I also wanted to reply to Skittlezzzz's review: You'll find out in this chapter. Gotta love him! And I'm getting to Aladdin! It may be a while, but I'm going to touch on every character that I mentioned in the beginning, plus a few more.**

**Alright, you may read. :) (I like reviews, by the way).**

"What are you doing out here?" he asked calmly, meeting their terrified gaze with his stern, unrelenting one.

There was a long pause before they spoke. "We... we got lost," said Anastasia, trembling and holding on to Drizella, "during the retreat. Please..."

"I'm not finished," Jim said boldly, crossing his arms and walking about them. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't force you into town right now."

They looked at each other nervously. "Be...because you're nice? Because you understand? Because you have a heart?" guessed Drizella.

This was far too much fun for Jim Hawkins. He had found the ditsy sisters out in the woods at about four in the morning, as he was surveying the woods, as was part of his job at Phil's Training Gym, during his early morning shift. He hadn't really expected to find anyone in the woods, as they would have been smart to move as deep into the woods as they could have gone to get away from Disneyland.

The sisters mistook Jim's silence. "No, we'll leave! We promise! We won't tell the villains anything! W-we'll never come back here! We'll act like nothing ever happened! Just don't hurt us."

Jim softened, but only a little. "I won't hurt you, but the only place you're going to is back to Disneyland with me."

At this, Anastasia and Drizella looked at one another worriedly. "No! Please..."

"It's not far from here," he stated without inflection.

"But... won't they kill us? The King? Won't he throw us in jail and torture us? Question us? Because that's what the villains do to their prisoners..." said Anastasia, rubbing her hands together.

Jim laughed a little, mostly in mockery at their naivety. "Seriously... the things the villains teach their children..." The sisters weren't really paying attention, or didn't understand him, because they looked at him with a blank look on their faces. "You'll be put on trial. Mickey is a fair king. He will punish you justly." Jim nodded once as if in approval to his own answer.

He turned around and started walking, assuming the sisters would follow behind him. When the only sounds he heard were his own footsteps, he faced them again and waved them forward.

"And if we refuse?" asked Drizella boldly, her bow flopping as the said it with gusto.

There was no needed verbal answer. Jim, without hardly moving, pulled out a laser pistol and pointed it straight at them. Without a word, they hurried forward, and Jim slid the gun back into the waistband of his pants, and walked silently all the way back to Disneyland.

* * *

Andy woke up, contented. He thought about his life, and how happy he was to be living it.

It had been two days since the gala, and Andy already had another date with Alice. And this time, he didn't need to be secretive about it.

Not that he wasn't nervous about asking her. He didn't know if he would _ever _get used to asking Alice_ anything_. But when they were talking at the gala, Andy could be himself. And the cool part was, Alice seemed to understand him.

He wasn't used to walking up to a girl and asking her if she wanted to do something the next day... especially when the girl said yes... excitedly. But that was exactly what had happened, simple and plain.

He had something nice planned for today. Not anything expensive, but something that he knew would make her happy.

Andy quickly popped out of bed, took a shower, got dressed and ate breakfast. As he was headed out the door, he yelled upstairs to his friend, who was undoubtedly still in bed. "Hey, Chris! I'm not going to be home for dinner tonight. Alice and I are going somewhere. And you need to get up! You don't want to lose your job!" Before he could hear Chris complain, he exited the front door.

As he was walking, Andy greeted and waved to people going down the roads, even some who had made fun of him before. They looked at him with puzzled faces, wondering how the boy, who was normally so quiet, appeared to be so chipper this time of morning.

He entered Rapunzel's Art with a beaming smile on his face. Rapunzel heard the slight jingle of the door's bell and looked up to find Andy humming as he headed over to his place behind the counter. As always, he got out his scetch pad and a pencil, and began to doodle... just whatever was around or on his mind.

Rapunzel, who was almost always that naturally happy, didn't seem to notice anything, and returned to her place at her easel, painting a portrait of Mama Odie.

Eugene, the shop's owner, came back from his office looking at a sheet with the store's budget and sales. "Rapunzel, our sales have gone up. We can afford to buy those paints you wanted..." He stopped when he saw Andy, who was sitting, humming, drawing with an ear-to-ear smile on his face.

Eugene looked to Rapunzel questioningly. She shrugged and went back to painting. He took a quick glance at Andy's scetch, and recognized the girl he was drawing immediately. He tapped the counter as he headed back into his office. "Good job," he said with a wink at Andy after he had looked up when he passed.

The rest of the day went by quickly for Andy. There were a few customers, but mainly, he worked on his drawing of Alice all day, shading it, getting every detail down to a tee.

However, the contrary was true for Alice. Hatter and Hare's was surprisingly busy all day long. But that didn't keep her from thinking about Andy. What could he have planned?

A couple of hours later, Andy shut down Rapunzel's Art, and Alice finished her seemingly never-ending shift at Hatter and Hare's. Alice headed home quickly to change into something decent for tonight, other than her black waittress uniform that smelled like tea and sugar. Andy went to Tony's, and decided to wait for Alice there.

Tony seated him immediately. Andy actually liked Tony. He was accepting of everyone, and loved to see people fall in love. Not that Andy was already falling in love... but if anyone could help start it, it'd be Tony.

He sat in the crimson plush booth, looking down at his watch every once in a while. He was dressed in a navy blazer, with a white button down shirt, khaki pants, and dark brown dress shoes. It was one of his more presentable outfits.

Eventually, more people started flooding into the restaurant. Andy tapped his fingers nervously on the table and looked around. He messed with the candle in the middle of the table, blowing lightly at it to see its flame flicker. He started to think that Alice had forgotten, but a few minutes later she came in, asking Tony if he had seen Andy. Andy got up at once and went over to her.

She smiled widely when she saw him, and he did the same. She looked absolutely stunning. She was worth the wait. Today, she was wearing a yellow dress with a white cardigan, along with white ballet flats. Her hair was pulled into a messy bun, accentuating her high cheek bones and making her bright blue eyes stand out even more.

Alice couldn't help but think that Andy was looking rather handsome, as well. His broad shoulders looked even broader in his navy blazer. He looked grown-up, mature, and put together. The sight of him put her at ease from the episode she had just had in the street.

He offered her his arm and she took it gratefully, his heart beating faster as he felt the weight of her hand on his arm. He led her to the table and they both sat down. "I'm sure glad you came. I was beginning to worry..." Andy said, looking into her eyes meaningfully.

"Yeah, I headed home to change and something... unexpected came up," Alice said, as she looked away and bit her lip.

"Oh. Well, what happened?" he asked.

Alice shrugged and remained silent. "Okay. You don't have to tell me. You can talk to me anytime, Alice. You know that. I want to know if something bothers you."

Alice felt slightly encouraged by this. "Thank you," she said gently.

Soon, Jane came to take their drink orders, then hurried away to fulfill them. Andy looked over at Alice. "So, how was your day?"

Alice slammed her hands on the table, as if she had been waiting all afternoon to hear that question. "Oh my goodness. It was one of the busiest days I've ever seen at Hatter and Hare's. I don't even understand, the food isn't good! At all!" She went on a minute long rant about how she had found the Cheshire Cat asleep in some of the tea and how she had to make a whole another batch, then the customers were angry because of the wait and didn't tip her.

"Wow!" Andy said, half laughing. "Certainly sounds like an interesting place to work."

"You have no idea. I'm just glad it's over with." She paused. "I've been thinking about tonight all day. I couldn't get my mind off of... you." She looked up at him.

He was blushing profusely. "I couldn't get my mind off of you, either. I drew something of you that I've been working on all day, but I was debating on whether to show it to you or not. Do you want to see it?" She nodded vigorously.

He unrolled the piece of paper from his blazer pocket, then spread it out on the table. Alice gasped. "Andy, it's beautiful! Wow, you have such talent."

Andy laughed a little. "Thank you. I don't think I'm done with it yet. But, when I'm finished, do you want it?"

Alice nodded. Jane came back with their drinks, but instead of asking them what they would like to eat, she hurried off, back into the kitchen.

Andy and Alice looked at each other quizically, looking around the booth to see if she was coming back. Andy saw Tony, who was already staring at them, and he winked. "Oh, no," Andy thought. "What's he planning?"

Jane came rushing back with a huge bowl of pasta, with two forks sticking out of the top. "Enjoy," she said, and scurried back to work.

"Tony. I should have known..." Andy muttered, but Alice heard him.

She giggled. "If he expects this to turn out like Lady and the Tramp, then he's wrong."

Andy laughed. "Yeah, if he expects me to push over the last meatball with my nose, he's completely mental."

Just the imagination of this got a loud laugh from Alice, and she snorted. She looked up at him in embarrassment, and there was an awkward silence for a second. Then suddenly Andy laughed even harder, which resulted in the both of them, laughing loudly, Alice snorting every once in a while, until finally, their stomachs hurt from laughing so hard, and they began eating.

Alice hadn't realized how hungry she was. She was at completely at ease with Andy, and didn't feel self conscious about how much spaghetti she was eating. She simply ate until she was full, then she stopped. She looked at Andy, who was still eating. He forked a meatball onto the wooden table top, then pushed it with his fork, pretending that he was pushing it with his nose. Alice burst out in a fit of laughter, snorting, with tears streaming down her face.

Eventually, she stopped, and looked at Andy, who was staring at her. "What?" she asked, wiping the joyful tears from her cheeks.

"I love your laugh."

"Yeah, well, you'd be the first."

Andy smiled. "No, really. It's genuine, and bold, and it makes me laugh more than the joke does." Alice cracked a grin.

Jane was soon back with the ticket, Andy, without hesitation, took it from her, payed it fully, and gave it back.

"Andy, I should have helped..."

"No. It's alright! It's my responsibility." He patted her hand gently, sending electricity through Alice at his touch.

"But you have the toys to take care of."

"But I'm also dating you," Andy argued pleasantly. "Really, it's alright."

Jane came back with Andy's change. She wished them a good night before whizzing back to whatever task was at hand.

Andy helped Alice out of the booth, offered her his arm, then headed out of the restaurant, not without both of them seeing the not-so-hidden wink that Tony gave them.

"So, what else do you have planned, Mr. Davis?" asked Alice, giving his arm a squeeze.

"Oh, you'll know soon enough," Andy said, not meeting her stare, dropping her arm and tentatively sliding his hand into hers. She stopped walking when they started up a hill, but didn't break their hand hold. He turned to face her. "Come on," he said, laughing a little and pulling her by the hand. She followed, placing her trust in him.

There was a single tree on top of the highest hill in Disneyland. Under this, Andy sat down, and patted the place next to him for her to sit down. At first, she didn't realize why he did. But after about five minutes of silence and staring at the sky with their backs turned against Disneyland, she finally understood what Andy had been planning.

The sun, which had already started on its last leg when the two had exited the restaurant, turned the sky orange. Now, it was bouncing its glorious light off of the clouds which were above it, reflecting shades of pink, red, yellow, and a light orange, making the whole scene surreal.

"Oh, Andy..." she whispered. His heart soared. "Could you, would you, paint me a picture of this? Please?" She looked up at him eagerly, making her round blue eyes look even bigger and more innocent.

Andy swallowed, a bit intimidated that he was actually sitting a few inches away from such a girl such as Alice. "Uh, sure. It may take me a while..."

"That's okay," she said dreamily, lacing her fingers through his.

After a few more minutes, Andy said, "Wait 'till you see the best part." The sun was setting quickly, but Alice wanted to talk.

"Andy, what do you want to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"With your life? Do you want to keep working at Rapunzel's for the rest of your life?"

"I'll always love painting, but I don't want to work there _all _of my life. I don't know. I guess I don't have it all figured out. I just keep living one day at a time, trying to make the best of everything. I'm pretty happy as I am."

Alice didn't say anything for a few moments. "Do you ever wonder what's outside Disneyland?"

Andy grunted in thought. "I've never thought about it. But I'm just content to be where I am now. Everything I have is here."

"I think... I think I'd like to travel. Just to see what's out there," Alice said, looking up at him. "Disneyland is great, but there's got to be more than smalltown life."

Andy nodded. Eventually the sun was completely gone and the darkness came in, seeping the sky in stars.

"Wha...whoa," Alice said, incredulous. "I didn't know... wow. This is absolutely breathtaking."

Andy wanted to say something bold and clever, like "That's how I feel everytime I'm around you," or "The stars in your eyes are brighter," but he couldn't bring himself to say it. He wanted to get to know Alice better before he started anything like that. Well, there was that, and then there was the fact that his heart was already threatening to beat out of his chest without adding the factor of a smooth line like that.

They sat there for a long time, looking up at the stars, watching every shooting star that streaked across the sky, looking for all the constellations that they knew, and eventually giving up and fabricating their own.

But something was still on the verge of Alice's mind. Her escapade from earlier that night was still haunting her. Everytime she thought about it, her heart raced and her stomach did flips... not in a good way. But she savored the moment that she was living in right then, with Andy, under the stars, safe and sound, free from pressure, with no burden on her to do anything at that moment other than enjoy every second of what she was experiencing.

Eventually, Alice felt her eyes start drooping, and said sleepily, "Hey, Andy, I think I need to go home. I'm getting tired." She yawned.

It made Andy yawn, too. "I'm right there with you. Let's head back." He stood up, brushing off his pants then holding out his hand to pull her up.

As they were walking along, Alice grabbed his arm in a hug and layed her head on his shoulder. "I had a wonderful time, Andy. Thank you. I really needed that."

"You're welcome," he said quietly, fixing his head straight forward so that Alice wouldn't see the grin on his face.

They reached her house, and then it was time for Andy's least favorite time of the date. The goodbyes.

"Goodnight, Andy. I'd really like to do this again."

"Me, too. Is tomorrow fine?"

She blushed a little. "Yeah, tomorrow's great. It doesn't have to be anything extravagant. We could just go for a walk around Disneyland. Or I could come see you on my lunch break."

"A walk sounds perfect. I'll see you then."

Without Andy realizing, Alice stood up on her tiptoes to kiss him quickly on the cheek, but he already had turned around and started walking away, with his hands in his pockets, whistling some unknown melody.

Alice smiled slightly, shaking her head at him. She may've not understand him completely... but who ever said that was a bad thing?


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: I'm sorry for such a long wait. School is crazy hard and exams didn't make it any better.**

**Anyway, I've been planning more than you can dream of for this story. You may not see it until the very end, but just about everything is connected.**

**This chapter was a combination of "fun to write" and "amazingly difficult". I hope you enjoy it!**

**You can expect another update, most likely before the first of 2013.**

**And finally, if you're like me, and like to listen to music while you read, I wrote this entire chapter to "Legends are Lessons" by Patrick Doyle (from _Brave_). It just really suits this chapter. Anyway, read and review, but most importantly-enjoy!**

_"Ouch!" _Merida yelled as Minnie pulled the strings to her corset tighter.

"I'm sorry, dear. I'll let it be a bit loose. Can you still breathe?" Minnie asked in her sweet voice.

"Barely, if you call panting breathing. When can I take this thing off?" the redhead complained as Minnie tied the corset.

"Just after the ceremony, dear. It will only take an hour at most," said the Queen gently. Merida sighed.

The Princess Ceremony wasn't something she was looking forward to. It just didn't _sound_ fun. If everyone already considered her a princess, why did the kingdom feel the need make it official?

And who said she wanted to be a princess, anyway? They had to do so much… stuff. Merida only wanted to be free from obligation. She was already expected to be a part of Phil's heroes, and now a princess. Other princesses (who were considered, although never aloud, lesser princesses), who were in the Training Gym as well tried to offer Merida some sort of encouragement. Pocahontas offered to show her the ropes between work and being a princess, telling her that it really wasn't as bad as it seemed. This did little to console her, although Merida was glad to make a friend.

Her unwillingness to go through the ceremony only made her more nervous. What if she passed out? What if she forgot the words to the vow? What if the crown didn't fit? She had already heard rumors about how "unacceptable it was that the brazen Scot doesn't have a prince". Instead of making Merida sad, it simply infuriated her. What business of theirs was it to judge her? She thought she had left all of this when she left Scotland.

Putting the finishing touches on Merida's jewelry and hair, Minnie stepped back to admire her work.

"You look wonderful," said the small voice sincerely.

"Not too girly?" said Merida, lifting her eyes doubtfully at the mouse on the stool behind her.

"Not at all, dear. Come now, we need to get into the carriage. It's almost time." Minnie straightened her own gown and jewelry before following the young princess out of the door.

Walking through the maze of the castle behind Minnie, Merida grew curious. "Your Majesty," began Merida meekly, "What was your ceremony like?"

Minnie stayed quiet for a moment, contemplating. "My, that was such a long time ago. As my ceremony was also my wedding, it was a bit more nerve-racking. I had to remember my marriage vows _and _my royalty vows. And my corset was a bit tighter." Minnie smiled up at Merida, who was thankful that she could actually move her midsection a bit.

"But other than that, it was much like yours." Minnie paused. "Are you nervous?"

"No," Merida said, trying hopelessly to cover up her nerves. Minnie caught it and raised an eyebrow.

"Y…yes," Merida admitted, hanging her head.

Minnie chuckled. "Firstly, stand up straight. You'll rip your dress that way." Merida did so and Minnie continued. "Merida, all of the other princesses have walked these halls feeling the exact same way you feel right now. I've had this conversation with every last one of them. None of them ever humiliated themselves. You will be a wonderful princess. The great thing about these ceremonies is that the kingdom comes to see _you_. No one cares if you mess up the vow… no one even knows it. Even the princesses forget it over time. But you are one of the reasons why the vow was written, why the ceremony was created, why the princess tradition lasts—you are a leader among your people, strong and beautiful. Although all the princesses are different, they share traits of virtue that are unlike the rest. With your title you bring hope to those around you. Remember that. And let Disneyland see _Merida_."

Looking down at the small queen with a small smile on her face, Merida stood up straighter, and her heart's pace slowed to a normal level.

The queen and the princess stepped into the summer air. The Shopping District was strangely quiet, since everyone was waiting inside the castle. Not even Kronk was out selling his spinach puffs.

Minnie held Merida's hand as she stepped into the open carriage. Merida's carriage was dark blue. No other horse was considered but Angus, who was already strapped in, ready to pull the carriage. He wore a dark green and navy bow around his neck, which he didn't look very happy about wearing. Merida laughed at him, considering how ridiculous, but adorable, her horse looked.

Merida took her place in the back of the carriage's round cabin. Minnie and Mickey, holding hands and looking at her reassuringly, sat across from her. As she looked down the line of princesses, she saw that ahead of her immediately was Rapunzel, who was the newest princess, besides Merida herself. Her carriage was completely different than Merida's—it was a creamy yellow cabin with purple accents, and drawn by the white horse named Maximus. Rapunzel, dressed in an extravagant dress of purples and whites, sat next to Flynn, who wore a uniform much like the one he was married in. And a crown sat on both of their heads. Today, only one crown would be placed on only one head.

Up ahead, she could barely make out the carriages of the other princesses. She wished inwardly that she could at least see Pocahontas. She might be a bit more confident.

Although Pocahontas could help her feel better in some things, there was one area where even she could not help. There were times where Merida wished that she had a prince. She had always wanted to get married, but had never found the right person to fill the job. With the princesses, she was the only one out of all of them that had never had a true love. But the thought was only an inkling, a small itch in the back of her mind that sometimes reemerged. She pushed the muse back down into the depths of her thoughts and focused on the present.

After a few more minutes of sitting in anxious silence, the cab driver in Rapunzel's carriage called to Maximus to go forward, and Merida's driver followed suit.

Merida, trying to remember to smile, wave, and remain breathing at the same time, entered into the castle by carriage, ready for her coronation.

* * *

Earlier, Jim Hawkins had entered into the castle, looking around at the change of decoration. Blue and green plaid banners hung around the white marble room, the image of a crossed bow and arrow at the bottom of each one in white.

The thrones sat empty at the front of the room. Instead of their usual purple and gold colors, blue and green took their place. A thin, intricate, gold crown with many emeralds and sapphires sat on a gold pillow between the thrones.

Jim couldn't help but feel like the ceremony was all a bit much. The town barely knew the girl and yet they were spending all this money on her? The money was better spent somewhere else.

Soon, the sounds of the clippity-clop of the horses' hooves started to echo around the throne room and all became quiet.

The procession of princes and princesses came by in order, as they always did. Snow White, with a small smile, waved as she sat by Fredrick. She was followed by many others, all in their color coordinating carriages and gowns, next to their princes, with the crowns placed perfectly atop each head, well-suiting each princess and her personality.

At last came some princesses that were more recent princesses like Kida, Giselle, and Tiana. Finally, the crowd gasped in pleasure in the beauty of the new teenage princess, in her lovely cream-colored gown accented with gold. Around her neck lay a necklace of emeralds and sapphires. She didn't look the least bit unsure as she waved to the crowd, as she rode all the way to the front of the throne room.

She, like every other princess, was helped down out of the carriage. She took the hand of King Mickey, since no prince was available to her. Unlike the other princesses, she walked up onto the throne platform. Mickey flanked her right and Minnie stood on her left. Confidently, she stepped forward and started the royalty vow.

"Today, as I, Princess Merida, stand in front of all of Disneyland, I vow to lead, as a part of royalty, you as my own people. I vow to be a picture of beauty and moral as we move into the unknown future. I vow to offer my help, talents, power, and strength to my fellow citizens in times of want and need. Though many have come before me and many will come after me, I vow to use my own uniqueness in ways that only I can. I give my promises to all of you, the people of Disneyland, the King Mickey and the Queen Minnie, and the members of the Royal Court. I welcome your assistance, and hope that you welcome mine. I ask you as a fellow Disneylander, will you allow me to become part of the royalty?"

Ceremonially, the crowd as one said "yes", as Jim said it a few seconds late because he had been mesmerized. He had seen three other princesses in his time at Disneyland say the same exact speech, but Merida's was different. She said it like she was sure of it. Merida didn't have hesitations—she truly believed what she was saying.

Mickey walked to the pedestal holding the tiara. Picking it up gently, he slowly made his way back to Merida.

"I, as King over this land, crown you Princess Merida!" Mickey said triumphantly, placing the tiara in Merida's hair, which sunk a little ways into her bright curls.

The citizens in the audience erupted in loud applause. They continued for a long while, as Merida beamed, looking as valiant and graceful as ever. One by one, slowly, the crowd started towards the Pavilion for the after party.

Jim slunk behind the bulk of the crowd, continuing to observe Merida, as she shook hands with several stragglers who wished her congratulations. He left the castle making plans to speak to the young princess in the near future, (he couldn't show up at the after party, it would start many rumors). Jim had a problem, and he thought that he just found out who could help him with it.

* * *

Yesterday was the day that Jim had found the stepsisters wandering around the forest at four in the morning. He had brought them back to the Training Gym to let Phil decide what to do with them. Phil knew immediately what to do—put them on trial before the King.

So, early that morning (when the sun had actually risen), Jim, Phil, Anastasia and Drizella all went before the King.

The two girls with their heads bowed stood on the floor in front of the throne platform, under Mickey's penetrating eyes. He scanned them up and down for a minute, scratching his chin. Finally, he said, "Jim, where did say you saw these girls again?"

"In the forest, Quadrant Four, Section Five, which is approximately two miles from the Training Gym."

"What time?"

"Four o'clock this morning, Your Majesty."

Mickey was silent again. Phil's hoofed feet clicked on the marble floor as he paced behind the girls.

"Ladies, what was your intent in the woods?"

The sisters looked at each other, their eyes asking each other the same question: "Should we tell the truth or should we lie?" After a few moments of quiet, Drizella mouthed "truth."

Anastasia turned her head back to Mickey, and said, "Your Majesty, we got lost in the woods after the villains retreated to the camp. It was dark, and we were scared, and so we ran. We followed a path we thought we knew, but in a few hours, we didn't see or hear anyone. Surely you must—"

"I understand," the King interrupted. "However, in return for my understanding, you must understand that I cannot allow you to return to the villains in banishment. You may now have a great deal of information to tell them. The kingdom will provide housing and basic needs for you two, courtesy of the throne. However, you will be required to work. You will receive your assigned posts tomorrow morning, and will begin your jobs. Am I understood?"

The girls bowed low to the ground with utterances of "Yes, Your Majesty," and "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Mickey smiled a bit. "Very good. Now, Phil, I am sure that you may spare this young man from his duties as the ladies settle in."

Phil nodded, "Oh yes, Your Highness. Absolutely. I've already started making plans for his temporary replacement."

At Mickey's words of "this young man," Jim became more attentive and even more confused.

"Phil, what does he mean?"

"He means, Hawkins, that you're the girls' babysitter for the next few weeks. They will be living next door to you in that lot that's been vacant for such a long time. Whenever they feel comfortable, you can have your duties back." Jim groaned discontentedly. "I don't want to hear your whinin', Hawkins! Get started—_now!_"

Jim took the girls by their arms and led them out of the castle, mumbling to himself the whole way.

* * *

Before the coronation took place, Wendy was shelving books in the late morning inside of Belle's. She loved her job there. It was nice and quiet. Wendy got to be surrounded by one of the things she loved most: books. She had a wonderful boss—she and Belle got along swimmingly. Aurora was fun to work with. She would sometimes sing as she put away books, which was always fun because Aurora had a wonderful voice. Belle would start singing as well in harmony, and Wendy would sit and listen as their voice blended. It was always warm in the shop, and smelled like the pleasant aroma of old book pages, mixed with something sweet…cider perhaps?

A few minutes ago, Belle had taken off to go prepare for Merida's coronation that was taking place later, and Aurora had fallen asleep in the Book Nook, a place designated for reading, which just happened to have the most comfortable couch in the world.

Wendy hummed to herself as she finished putting away the last of the books and slid down the ladder, landing with a light thud on the wood floor. She went behind the counter to get a feather duster. The books hadn't yet had their weekly cleaning.

Event days were always slow. They had only one customer that morning: Rapunzel had ordered a new sketch book through the bookstore and had wanted it to doodle pictures of the ceremony as it took place.

She ascended the ladder again, sliding over to the far left to start a long cleaning journey over the entire bookshelf…and then over the rest of the many bookshelves in the store.

"_Er-er-er-er-ooh!_" The sudden crow in her ear made her jump back a bit from the ladder, then causing her to hang on to it for dear life. She heard the culprit laughing. Wendy slowly turned to meet the hysterical boy eye to eye.

"_Peter! _You could have killed me, you know that?" Wendy shook her head as she started dusting again.

"Aw, come on, Wendy. Lighten up! I wouldn't have let you fall," Peter said, laying back in mid-air and putting his hands behind his head.

"Maybe not, but you could have very well have given me a heart attack or… or waken poor Aurora up!" she gestured to the still-sleeping princess across the room. Wendy sighed. "What did you come here for anyway, Peter? Just to annoy me?"

"Get over yourself, Wendy. Can't I come just to get a book like everyone else? Geez…" He flew over to a stack. "I'll take… this one." He hefted the one off of the top into his arms, which brought him down a few inches in the air, then he sprung back up.

Wendy read the binding doubtfully. "Really? _War and Peace _by Tolstoy? I didn't think you read many classics, Peter. Actually, I didn't think you read much at all…"

"Okay, okay," Peter said, throwing the book back on top of the pile. "So that's not what I came here for."

"Then why—"

"I just wanted to talk to you." As Wendy came down the ladder, Peter slowly descended to the floor. "I… I miss you, Wendy."

Wendy blushed scarlet. "Peter, I… I thought we had already settled this."

"I know. But so many months have gone by, and I can't help but wondering if you'd reconsider," he said, rubbing his arm and looking away shyly.

"Reconsider what? Our relationship?" Wendy was a bit angry now. If he thought he could just waltz in and she'd be alright again…

"No, no… just…think. About me. Reconsider me as a person. I've decided that if, not now, but maybe in the future, you'd want to… I don't know, get back together… then I'd change for you. I'd grow up."

Wendy's eyes grew twice their size as he said the last part. "Well, I just thought I'd tell you. Goodbye."

He, perhaps for the first time that Wendy had seen, _walked _out of the door with his head hung low and his arms crossed.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: I know I had promised this days ago, but I just now got it written. It was much more challenging than I thought, and apparently the rest of December and January were busy... it actually made me look like I have some kind of life or something. Anyway, I actually have other things to talk about this time.**

**I just want to warn you (as this is the tenth chapter, and I feel like some sort of announcement should be made), that there will be character deaths in this story. :) Surprise! But they're not pointless deaths. They're still a ways off, so don't get too spooked. I just wanted to warn those who don't like character deaths to get out of this story before you get too attached. **

**Next... if there is any fan art out there that I don't know about, or if anyone is inspired to draw fan art, by all means, tell me! I can't pay you for it, but if I was to see a drawing or something of the town or one of the scenes, I just might have an aneurysm.**

**Finally, I've been getting really into deviantART. (I don't have an account, but I could spend hours on there). That's one of the reasons I didn't have this up the other day... I kind of became obsessed with the Fiolee pairing from Adventure Time with Finn(or Fionna) and Jake (Cake)... all because of a picture of Marshall Lee and Fionna Viria13 did in an art dump. So, I spent a while reading some Fiolee stories. :) Luckily for y'all, I made myself stop so I could write. ANYWAY... I was just wondering if I should add this to deviantART by getting my own account. I think it'd get more attention and greater potential for fan art, which would be nice. But it's also more accessable for people. I don't know. Just a thought. Let me know what you think.**

**Finally, I wrote this chapter while listening to "We're Still Here" by Sleeping At Last, which explains a lot as to the mood if you listen to it. It kind of turned out darker than I wanted, but it's okay. I hope you enjoy! Happy 2013!**

Today was the day that Jim Hawkins was to show the evil stepsisters the way of the town. He woke up early, groggily putting on his boots and a shirt, not bothering to change pants, briefly shaking his hair to get it to look somewhat presentable. He finished by half-heartedly brushing his teeth, and he headed out of the door, locking the door behind him.

This was Jim's reward for his hard work in finding the sisters—rising early and spending even _more_ time with them. Spending time with people isn't something that Jim liked. It's why his job was scouting the woods early in the morning… _alone_. And the sisters weren't just _normal _people either. They were loud and annoying, and required far too much attention.

Knocking on the girls' bright pink front door, Jim hardly expected a reply. They were probably still asleep. He jiggled the doorknob. It was unlocked. Most people in town didn't lock their doors, but he found it odd that two girls that were raised by a villain didn't lock their door. Judging from their previous behavior, they had forgotten, or simply were too lazy to lock it. Sighing, Jim entered the house, slamming the door behind him, hoping that the sound would wake up the girls so that he wouldn't have to.

He waited for a minute, looking around their living room. Most everything was still in boxes. Another reason that he couldn't have spoken to Merida after the coronation yesterday was that he had to unpack the furniture and clothing given to them by the crown. They had gotten many stares as they unpacked. The Disneylanders were by no means used to seeing villains' faces, especially if they were behaving peacefully.

After five more minutes of waiting, Jim went by the two girls' bedroom doors, knocking on them, hearing the pattern of alternating snores coming from each. When he heard no disturbance or movement from the interior of the rooms, he considered screaming for a moment. It would allow him to both wake up the girls and get out some frustration—kill two birds with one stone. He decided against it. It wouldn't be nice… and Jim did have a nice side…sometimes.

He knocked on Anastasia's pink door. "Anastasia, it's Jim. Time to get up!" he called, trying to sound cheery, but failing under his croaky early morning voice… and apathy.

Jim leaned over to Drizella's blue door. "Drizella, rise and shine! We've got a lot to do today." After a few seconds of waiting, Jim didn't notice any changes. Rolling his eyes, he entered Anastasia's room.

She looked peaceful and happy. Jim couldn't help but wondering what her life was like back at the villains' camp. Maybe this transition into Disneyland would be a good thing for them… to escape that lifestyle. Anastasia did looked a little relieved—

Jim's deep thoughts were interrupted by a loud snore. She wasn't so bad when she was unconscious. Laughing a little to himself, Jim shook Anastasia's shoulder gently. "Wake up, Anastasia. We have a long day ahead of us."

Anastasia rolled over, sighing and stretching. "I don't want to."

Jim felt angry and amused at the same time. These girls were hard to wake up. "Anastasia," he said it firmly, commanding her, daring her to defy him again.

She pulled the covers over her head. "Anastasia, if you don't get out of that bed, I'm getting a bucket of water with your name on it."

Anastasia popped up, her hair sticking out every which way. "You wouldn't."

Jim smirked. "You bet I would. Up and at 'em. Come and help me get Drizella up, then you can get dressed. You have a job to go do today."

Sticking her tongue out at him, Anastasia rolled out of bed. Barging through the door, she burst into Drizella's room with Jim following close behind.

"Drizzy. Up. _Now!_" she screamed. Drizella bolted up straight in bed with a bewildered look on her face.

Anastasia turned to Jim. "See? You just have to do it more forcefully." She skipped past him into her room, slamming her door as she went.

He looked back at Drizella, who was still sitting confused on her bed. "Get dressed. We'll get some breakfast when we get to the training gym. Come in the living room when you're ready."

She nodded once. Jim crossed his arms and left, shutting the door behind him.

He sat on the sisters' new couch, pink and green floral… Victorian style. It wasn't very comfortable. Looking around at the boxes, he realized that the rest of the unpacking would take a long time… more time than he would like to give away. But he was going to see Merida today, and nobody could stop him. Not even the sisters.

He stared at the grandfather clock in the corner. It was six. Jim had come over at five. Why were the girls taking so long?

"Hey, if you could, hurry it up, please? We need to be at the Training Gym in thirty minutes, and it's a long walk. Phil doesn't like late comers," Jim half shouted into the back of the house.

"Okay, almost done!" yelled Drizella back. Anastasia stepped out of the bathroom door wearing a new dress and bow.

"Ah! Much better than our other dresses. Those were all tattered from that wretched forest. They look almost exactly the same! Who did you say made these, Jim?" asked Anastasia.

"Giselle. She's extremely talented at dress-making," Jim said.

"Interesting. I shall have to go and ask her for more. This fabric is simply divine."

Drizella came out a few minutes later in a dress exactly like her last one. Following Jim out of the door and down the street, they began talking about how lovely the dresses were and how good they felt in them and how wonderful they both looked.

After a small while, Jim couldn't take this sort of talk any more. Might as well start training them now.

"So, girls. You are to report to the Training Gym every morning at six-thirty sharp. If you are late, the time you missed will be served at the end of the work day. The heroes will ask you questions, which you must answer. For every question you refuse to answer, one of your new possessions will be taken away. After this questioning, Phil will tell you your duties for the day. Things change quickly around here, so there are always things that need to be done. You will be provided breakfast and lunch, and will be given thirty minutes to eat each. You will be dismissed at five o'clock in the evening. Afterwards, I will escort you to your house. You may stay there, but if you wish to leave, you are to call me to accompany you. My main job is to supervise you and make sure you are where you need to be at all times. I am also to answer any questions you may have. Whenever you feel comfortable, you may tell Phil that you are ready to be independent. If he feels you are ready and trustworthy, then I may go back to my regular duties. Am I clear?" Jim lectured in a monotone voice without looking at the sisters.

"Yes. But I have one question," started Drizella, "Where are we to eat dinner?"

"You're grown. You can provide for yourselves. Your kitchen is stocked with food and cooking supplies. You may also use the money you earn to go out to eat, which I would have to escort you to. Any other questions?"

The girls shook their heads. "Good. And in perfect timing. Your questioning session will begin in five minutes. Good luck," Jim said, opening the door to the Gym for them and following them in.

* * *

"I'm tired," Drizella complained as she dragged her feet, trudging far behind Jim, who was walking at a steady pace.

"How much longer?" asked Anastasia, who looked exhausted.

"Not much farther. I wanted to stop somewhere first. I promise it's not far from your house. But you need to come with me," said Jim, who was moving even faster now. He had been waiting since yesterday, and now he was so close. He couldn't let the sisters' speed hinder him.

The girls were too tired to argue with him. They had spent the day doing odd jobs—everything from cleaning public restrooms, tending to the Royal Garden, and even walking Pluto. No wonder they were tired. Jim was getting worn out just watching them.

Finally, Jim could see the smoke coming up out of the cabin's brick chimney. He pointed. "There it is. When we get there, you can have a nice rest. Maybe she'll even give you something to eat, if you're hungry."

Anastasia and Drizella didn't respond. Jim casually walked up to the wooden door, shoving his hands in his pockets after knocking. He heard light shuffling inside, then the key in the lock, and finally, the door opened to reveal a very curious Merida.

"Hullo," said Merida, crossing her arms too and staring back at Jim. "Can I help you?"

"Uh, yeah, actually. I'm sorry… you probably don't know who I am," Jim began a little nervously. "My name's Jim Hawkins. I work up at the Training Gym, too. But my shift starts at four in the morning, which explains why you don't recognize me."

The only reason he was nervous was that he was asking for something. Jim _hated _asking for things—especially from people he didn't know very well, which was just about everyone.

Merida tilted her head, not really in agreement or understanding, but more so she could study him. He stood still, avoiding meeting her gaze as her eyes swept over him. She was really quite intimidating. The strength she had displayed yesterday should have been a clear indication, but Jim was selfishly thinking of how she could help him, instead of who she was. She wasn't shorter than him at all… in fact, they were the same height, which didn't help his nerves. At least he beat her in muscle mass…

"And what may I help you with, Hawkins?" Merida asked, placing her hands on her hips, still blocking her doorway.

At this point in time, the sisters had caught up and were now complaining loudly behind Jim.

"I thought you said we were going to rest soon," groaned Drizella loudly.

"When can we get home?" asked Anastasia, who had propped her head on her sister's shoulder.

Merida stared at them for a minute, then ushered the three in silently with a wave of her hand. Smiling gratefully at her, Jim lead the way in, followed by the sisters, and finally Merida, who was shaking her head doubtfully at the whole situation.

"Sit down, Mr. Hawkins… ladies. May I offer you anything to eat or drink?" Merida said politely, heading towards a door that must have been the kitchen.

Immediately, the sisters rattled off many different food orders. After a few seconds, Merida saw that it wasn't going to end. She entered the kitchen and returned with three glasses of water and a bowl of candy. As soon as she sat it on the coffee table, the sisters lunged for it, bringing packaged candies by the armloads back to their chair.

Jim was glad that they were occupied. It should keep them quiet for a while.

Merida sat across from Jim in an oversized, fur covered arm chair. She smiled lightly, invitingly, and a little understandingly.

"Your Highness, first of all I just wanted to congratulate you on your coronation. You'll be a great addition to the royalty," Jim said, a little more at ease now.

But the statement seemed to make Merida uncomfortable. She looked down at her hands which were clasped in her lap. "Thank you. I hope to be." She said it a little coldly, although not with malice towards Jim. She said it more like she didn't believe her own words.

"You did quite excellently on your vow, too. Out of all the princesses I've seen say the same, you said it best. You said it like you believed it. It really showed your strength," Jim rambled briefly, forcing himself to a stop.

Merida's pained look did not disappear. After a sigh, she looked up at him, lowering her eyebrows. "Hawkins, did you come here to flatter me, or for help, like you said?"

"I'm sorry. It's just that after your coronation, I thought that you'd be the perfect one to help me out with my problem."

"And your problem is…?"

Without saying a word, Jim tilted his head towards the stepsisters, who had managed to get chocolate all over their faces. Looking back at Merida, she nodded knowingly. "Aye. I see. What can I do for you?"

"Be there to call on when I don't know what to do. I don't know how girls work and things like that. It'd be nice to have a female's opinion. And maybe to watch them so I can have some alone time?" Jim smiled apologetically. "I found them in the forest days ago, and I brought them back to the Training Gym. When they went on trial, I was appointed as their supervisor. What a reward that was…"

Merida leaned forward, placing her elbows on her knees. "What's in it for me?"

"The pure satisfaction of doing your royal duties and helping a guy out?" Jim said, batting his eyes a little.

Merida nodded her head, laughing. "Sure. Can't be that bad."

Jim beamed with gratitude. "Thank you so much, Your Highness! You have no idea how much this will make a difference."

"Oh no, I have a vague idea. And don't call me Your Highness." She sat for a minute, in thought again, slumped into the chair, letting her legs part a little bit, something very rare for a princess, but she didn't seem to care or notice.

"Hawkins, why didn't you ask me this yesterday at the after party?"

"I…I'm not usually seen at public events. Kind of starts rumors. I'm not exactly a social guy…" Merida shrugged, then entered what looked like a deep thinking state. Jim now felt that he and his two now sugar coated groupies were no longer welcome. "Thank you… Merida," he said, leading both of the girls out of the cabin by their arms.

"You're welcome… Jim," she muttered quietly, watching him go with that same kind of blank stare.

* * *

In the boys' wood-boarded living room, a fire crackled lowly in the hearth, softly lighting the faces of the two sitting there.

One was staring into it, thinking deep thoughts, as the other sat with a book, playing with the edge of his leather bookmark.

Peter was trying desperately to sort everything out in his mind. He knew one thing—he wanted Wendy back—and he would do just about anything to have her.

He had bought clothes from Giselle's yesterday after he had walked out of Belle's Books. Today, he was wearing jeans and a plaid shirt, along with Converse. He wasn't used to it at all. The jeans were heavy—much heavier than his normal leaves. The shirt was hot, as it was still summer outside. He had made Taran promise to teach him how to dress, as he had put on the same change of clothes every day since he could remember.

He hoped that during his time on the town today, Wendy might have noticed his change in demeanor. Not only had changed his clothes, but he also began walking, no longer taking his daily pixie dust from Tinker Bell. His house mates, Michael and John Darling and Taran, began worrying about him, but no one said anything.

Peter's mind was not focused on what the others thought of him… only what Wendy thought of him. Now, he sat in front of the fire, with Taran reading by his side, staring at the flames as if they were to tell him his next move. Was he to talk to Wendy? Ask her for a date? Remain silent? Peter shook his head to clear it. Resting his head upon his hand once again, he sighed.

Taran looked up from his book. "Are you okay, Peter?" Peter murmured something unintelligible, but Taran knew his friend too well. "You don't sound fine. You need to talk?"

Peter cut his eyes over at his friend. "Taran, how did you and Eilonwy first get together?"

Taran was a little surprised. Was that really what his immature friend was thinking about? "I…it just kind of _happened_, I guess. We had mutual feelings for a while, but I guess I was the one who acted on it first, in retrospect." Peter looked back at the fire. Taran shifted in his seat, ready for a laborious conversation. "Peter, what's this about?"

"What's what about? I can't change my clothes?" asked Peter defensively.

"You know what I'm talking about. You haven't been this quiet… well, ever. What's going on with you?"

Defeated, Peter held his forehead in his palms. "I've been doing a lot of thinking lately."

Tilting his head disbelievingly, Taran glared at Peter. "Obviously." He shot a glance down the hallway which held all four of the boys' bedrooms. "Michael and John are asleep in their rooms. If it's about Wendy, you can talk to me."

Peter nodded. After a minute or so, he whimpered, "Do you think what I'm doing is wrong? Changing for Wendy?"

Taran put down his book. "Well, I think it depends on your intentions. If you intend on changing everything about you… I mean, what makes you_… you_, just to get Wendy's attention, then yes, there's something wrong with it."

Peter nodded. "I just really want her back."

Taran smiled. "I know."

There was a long pause.

"Oh, and Taran?"

"What, Peter?"

"If you tell anyone this, you're going to be kicked all the way to Neverland."


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: I know this may be (relatively) boring in comparison with my other chapters, but hang in there with me. I know it's cruel of me to make you wait two months for such a chapter (not to mention it's shorter... again, in comparison), but it's crucial and really introspective for some of the characters, which will later come back into the story line. This story is still in the "building" mode of the plot roller coaster. Ladies and gents, we got a long way to go. **

**EXCUSE TIME! My computer _crashed _a few weeks ago, and it was in the shop for two weeks. I lost all of my documents (which is okay, because I have most of them saved elsewhere), but a few snippits and plot thoughts for the future of this story were lost (but still in my memory, just not word for word). So, it took me a while, and again, during the school year, you can't expect too many updates, but maybe I'll start updating more now that I have something to write on. Just give me time to sort things out and catch up, K?**

**I really hope you enjoy this chapter, because it was really (oddly) easy for me to write (that never happens). And, I'm not one to beg, but if you have the time, review, please? They're kind of like coffee... they get me excited, so I write faster. Anyway, enjoy!**

The girls had been gone for such a long time. Of course they had somehow managed to get lost during the villains' retreat. It was odd not having the two annoying voices of her daughters bugging her and others around the camp. Sometimes it was nice to not have to look out for them, but other times, she felt the unmistakable twinge of  
"motherly instinct," telling her that something was desperately wrong.

Her greatest fear throughout the whole issue was that the girls were somewhere they shouldn't be—most specifically Disneyland. She had never agreed with the mouse that they called a king, and she had no clue as to how Anastasia and Drizella would be treated if they were found. But then again, there were worse fates for the girls. Namely, starving to death or getting mauled by a bear out in these woods. The girls weren't very bright or resourceful, (which is why their job around camp consisted of washing clothes and picking berries), but neither were they quiet. They could just as well be found as lost in the woods. For Lady Tremaine, the worst part was the not knowing.

Which wouldn't change any time soon. The villains had decided that it would be best for the group if no search party was sent for the stepsisters. So, unless Drizella and Anastasia were to suddenly find them by some dramatic miracle, they would be absent from the villain camp for quite some time.

Some days, she honestly could care less for the little brats. But other days, she felt as if they deserved a better life than living out in the woods. Lady Tremaine felt honestly _remorseful _that she couldn't provide them with a better life.

But today, for once, she simply missed her two girls…not that she would ever admit it.

* * *

Peter walked carefully down the dusty street heel-toe, just like Taran had taught him. Peter knew how to walk, but he wasn't graceful. He convinced himself that it was only because he was out of practice. Or perhaps everyone else walked wrong, and he was the only one who walked right.

His change in wardrobe didn't help the matter either. Peter was out of kilter, swaying this way and that in his gait. His usual outfit of leaves wouldn't have hindered him in such a way. And yet another thing had changed: his hair cut.

His thick, red locks were now in what Giselle called "layers" or something. It was a shorter, more disciplined cut. He didn't like it. But that wasn't what mattered to Peter.

No, Peter had been going on this "diet" from the norm for two days now. As the end of the second day dwindled down, he had no idea of a particular set of baby blues had been watching him. She had seen him, (by mere chance, of course), come out of Giselle's today with his new haircut.

The changes in Peter certainly didn't hurt her view of him. His "growing up," at least in appearance, was undoubtedly attractive to Wendy. But she wasn't sure that she _liked _the change. What made Peter… well… _Peter_ was his unique style and attitude. But an older and more mature Peter was what she said she had wanted… and Wendy was a girl who kept to her word.

Sighing, Wendy stepped aside from the window at Belle's Books that looked out over the Shopping District and went back to work, doubting herself for the first time that she could remember, questioning whether she really wanted this change that was happening to Peter.

* * *

Cinderella's high heels clicked on the cobblestone road, announcing her presence to anyone who might be around. She had only heard the news yesterday. There had been no public notification that her stepsisters had moved into the town. She figured Mickey had wanted to quietly go about this unsettling business.

Cinderella figured that it might be a nice gesture to pay them a visit. While both sides of the family had never particularly liked each other, they were still stepsisters. They deserved a familiar face and voice.

She stepped briskly up to the door and knocked on it daintily. Looking around her in the dark, she suddenly felt uncomfortable. She decided she would feel better when she got inside. She heard the shuffling of feet and muffled voices. One was male.

Ruddy, handsome Jim Hawkins opened the door, standing a few inches taller than Cindy. This startled her a bit, although she had heard that Jim was the one put in charge of taking care of her sisters. She clasped her hands in front of her gown, and smiling said gently, "Good evening, Mr. Hawkins. I was just wondering if I might visit with Anastasia and Drizella." She raised her thin eyebrows hopefully, knowing somewhere deep inside that she wasn't going to take no for an answer.

He looked her up and down suspiciously. "Yes, Your Majesty. Please, come in," Jim uttered hesitatingly. Picking up the front of her skirts, Cinderella entered the house carefully, looking around at the furniture and decorations before noticing Anastasia and Drizella who were both emerging from the kitchen. Without thinking, Cinderella rushed to them and swept them up in a tight embrace.

"Oh, my sisters! My, how I'm glad to see you. You both look well. How have you been?" asked Cinderella earnestly.

The sisters, who were now standing motionless with their mouths hanging open, (either in shock or disgust, Jim couldn't tell), looked at each other. "Well, Cindy, nice to…uh… see you too, I guess," Anastasia said, weakly curtseying.

"Yes, well…um… hello, Cinderella," Drizella followed suit awkwardly.

Cinderella didn't notice their discomfort. "Oh my, look at you. Look how you've matured. Such beauties! So, tell me. How is your mother?"

The girls moved over to the couch and Jim gestured for Cinderella to sit down. Anastasia began, "Oh, she's fine. As cruel as ever, you know," then kind of sadly, "I doubt that she even notices we've gone."

"Nonsense. Every mother, villain or not, notices when her children have gone." Then to Drizella, "So, are you liking Disneyland?"

Drizella leaned forward, as if she were sharing a secret. "Far better than that forest. Even though it's less work, we're not exactly outdoors people, you know."

Then there was a silence in which everyone but Cinderella felt uncomfortable. Drizella shot Anastasia a kind of look as to say something, and Anastasia, after a while, slowly and quietly said, "So, why are you here?"

"In Disneyland? Why, where else shall I go? I suppose I could ask you the same thing! But to answer your question, all of my friends live here and—"

"No, no," Drizella interrupted. "Why are you at our _house_? I mean, after all we did to you… you don't, I mean you never even thought that you _hated _us?" Jim could tell she was nervous putting herself into such a vulnerable position.

Cinderella looked a tad stunned. "Me? Why, no. Sure, sometimes I felt unloved or unappreciated… sometimes I even disliked you and your mother a little, but after a while of living with Charming, I felt sorry for you. You never knew what it was like to have a happy ending, to be _truly _loved. I couldn't hate you because I figured that you needed to take your pent up feelings out somewhere. If the only place you could put them was on me, who was I to complain? Better onto me than onto someone who wouldn't understand." After this, she sat up a bit straighter, (if that was possible), like a burden had just been lifted from the entire room. "There. Now _that's _cleared up, why don't we have a normal conversation?"

The sisters, looking grateful, were able to carry on a normal conversation, and a pretty good one, at least for those who don't know each other very well. They cleared up all of Cinderella's questions, about why they were there, how they were being treated, Jim's role in the whole affair, their own feelings about Cinderella, (which weren't near as harsh as she had imagined), and many other things like that. The evening ended with the conventional "If you need anything, let me know," followed by a few other hugs and "thank you's", before Cinderella left the exhausted sisters (and a bored Jim) with a few tears in her eye.


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: I updated sooner this time! Within the same month! You all should be proud.**

**Firstly, to ALL of the AMAZING REVIEWS that I have been getting... thank you. I hope this chapter is rewarding and will serve as proof that the more reviews, the faster the writing. :)**

**Next, to the 3 Guests who reviewed:**

**#1- Thank you! Character development is something I work the hardest on. I _would_ initiate some kind of characters from _Wreck-it Ralph_, but (and no one slay me for this) I haven't seen it. But more recent characters are coming... some from Pixar films, some from hand-drawn Disney... just not this chapter. :)**

**#2- Good job! You picked up one of my themes. It's nice to know that I did well presenting it... it was something I was worried about. Glad to know my message got across. And Peter and Wendy... well, we'll see. Thanks!**

**#3- I've heard from many reviewers that Cindy is their favorite. Although we won't see her again for a while, she will be making a reappearance. Thank you! I take great pride in my characters.**

**Okay, now that's over with, I have a bit of bad news for those who love the Jim-Anastasia-Drizella-Merida story line so far... this is all for them for now. They'll come back, I promise! I'm introducing new story lines and such, which you'll get a glimpse of today.**

**Two more things. (I think this is the longest author's note EVER). Ok, so today is Easter, and if you don't know, I'm a Christian (check my bio), so this day means a lot to me. If you have any questions about my faith or whatever, just message me or something. I'm not going to slam it down your throat, because I'd hate it if someone did it to me. At the same time, please don't judge me or my story because of my faith, because I won't do it to you. :)**

**On a much lighter note, I listened to "Stars" by Fun. while writing this story. I think it goes quite well. That's all. Thanks for reading this far. You can read the chapter now. Happy Easter!**

The young man woke up early just to catch a glimpse of the newcomers on their way to work. His caramel-colored hair touched the old glass as he pressed his face against it to watch the stepsisters as they went, along with that menace Jim Hawkins.

He ran down the stairs of the castle in his bare feet, avoiding the squeaky step seventh from the bottom. Running into the kitchen, quietly of course, he watched the caravan go by.

Everything he knew about the outside world came through word of mouth of the other servants and by these windows, which provided a good look of the surrounding houses. If you went high enough up into the castle's towers, you could see much of Disneyland. But seeing was not enough for this curious youth.

"Charles Potts," his mother said, a bit taken aback, "What are you doing out of bed this early? And in… those," Mrs. Potts pointed to his pajamas, "Why, imagine if the master saw you! Go upstairs this instant and find something suitable to wear."

He turned around to face his mother, who was covered in white powder with one hand on her hip and the other holding a wooden spatula. "But Mom! The sisters are passing outside. It's about time something interesting I can actually _see _happens in this town," Chip said, crossing his arms.

"What are you talking about? Plenty happens every day. Perhaps this unhealthy fascination with Disneyland on-goings is what's been keeping you from your chores. And you wonder why I keep you inside. Now, really, Chip, go upstairs before Master or Mistress see you in such unsuitable clothing!" Mrs. Potts said crossly, returning to her cooking.

Chip, ignoring any other of the servants who bid him good morning on his way back up to his room, stormed up the stairs, stomping on the seventh step from the bottom as an announcement of sorts that he was unhappy.

Although he may not be acting it at the moment, he was grown up now. Chip was convinced of this.

About a week ago, Chip had witnessed all of the gowns and tuxedos on their way to the Gala. He saw a lot from these windows. But he couldn't witness a _true _friend. He couldn't "go out" for dinner. The walls and halls of Adam's castle were the only he had ever known. The gardens were his only opportunity to go outside. All of his friends and family were the other servants. If visitors were to come inside, he was told to stay out of their sight as the older and more experienced servants took care of them. He never saw new sights nor new faces. Every day was the same.

But this morning was different in that he had never outwardly expressed his desire to go outside, (as he knew that his mother forbade it). Small but strong, the idea put a new fire in his heart to fight for his freedom…even against his own mother.

* * *

Jim tried to ignore the faces on the streets as they stared at the group walking to dinner. Really, it'd been _days _now, and the crowds _still _insisted on rubbernecking. But Jim walked next to Anastasia, who walked next to Drizella, who walked next to Merida, with his head held high. Perhaps, if he did so, the people would think that he knew something that they didn't… it would become more of a mystery instead of a food chain (on which the group would be towards the bottom).

A nice meal at Hatter and Hare's (well, a nice cup of tea), would, Jim hoped, calm down the stress of the day.

The group was seated in a booth immediately. The sisters sat next to each other and faced Jim and Merida on the other side. As soon as they sat, the sisters slumped and sighed. "It's nice to go out once in a while," Anastasia said, laying her head on the table. Drizella agreed.

Suddenly the Cheshire Cat appeared in the middle of the table. Everyone except Anastasia, (who was face-down and couldn't see), jumped. "Good evening, I'll be your server tonight. I'm guessing you all want tea? You'd be _mad_ if you didn't!" He laughed at his own joke, then took drink orders, which were exactly as he'd predicted, and disappeared into thin air.

Merida, after a pause, said, "So, how was work today?" She was never present at the trio's work hours, as she had a job of her own at Phil's.

Drizella groaned. "Easier, but I still wish we didn't have to work on the weekends. No matter what work it is, it's exhausting."

"What work were you doing?"

"We helped Belle bring in a new shipment of books, picked apples in the royal orchard, and took down the old posters for the Gala," said Anastasia, looking up now. "What did _you_ do today?"

"Most Sundays I have off, but since Jim's working with you two, we're having to improvise to make up his patrolling shift. Eric took over his shift today, and I covered Eric's shift. The chain goes on," Merida said, holding her head on her hand.

"How about we talk about something else?" asked Jim.

"Alright. How are you girls settling in Disneyland life? Like it well enough?" asked Merida, showing a genuine interest.

"Absolutely. Most people we come across are surprisingly friendly, even if they do stare at us a bit first. Nothing like back at the villain camp. Visitors from Disneyland are _not_ welcome," said Drizella.

"Even though we have to work harder, I think I'm starting to enjoy it here," said Anastasia.

Merida smiled. "I'm glad. You know, it's funny, I would have never guessed that two villains could be so…normal."

The sisters' faces scrunched up, more confused than offended. "What do you mean, _normal?_" asked Drizella.

"I think what Merida's trying to say is that you aren't so different from Disneylanders after all. Normally villains are feared, shunned, and seen as cruel. Sometimes, that may be the case. But for the large part, you all are…" Jim couldn't find the right words.

"Exactly like us," finished Merida.

The sisters smiled. "Precisely. Everyone is so misunderstood. And we were always taught that Disneylanders were perfect, sunshine-y people that would only talk to the people that they like… which didn't include us. But really, you're just…" Anastasia faltered.

"Exactly…like…us…" said Drizella slowly.

And with her saying it, the rest of the group realized a truth that had been hidden the whole time.

* * *

Wilbur Robinson strolled down the path leading into the Shopping District with his hands in his pockets and his head held high. The humiliation from the Gala had passed, and now he was able to focus on more prominent issues.

It was deeply clear that Andy and Alice weren't going to break up any time soon, and both of them were loving every minute of their relationship. Which meant it was time for Wilbur to move on… for the time being.

The only other girl in town that was available and (seemingly) willing to date was Wendy Darling. She was pretty enough.

So, Wilbur, reassuring himself of certain success, strolled down into the Shopping District with the intention of finding Wendy and asking her to be his girlfriend. He could bounce back fast and he was going to prove it.

Wendy would be off work today, so she could be anywhere. He had just seen Alice and Andy in Tiana's, so she wasn't there, hanging out with Alice. He frowned. He'd never worked this hard to get a girl before.

Finally, he caught sight of a familiar, curly, bouncing ponytail heading into Ariel's Trinkets. Wilbur quickened his pace and entered the shop after her.

Looking around inside, he saw Wendy in the back looking at jewelry. Perfectly alone. Combing through his hair with his fingers, he plastered his most charming smile on his face and placed his hand on her shoulder gently.

"Hey Wendy," he said smoothly.

"Hi, Wilbur," she said, obviously more interested in the jewelry than in him. But Wilbur kept going.

"So, Wendy… I was wondering if I could ask you something."

She seemed a bit more intrigued now. "Sure, Wilbur. What is it?"

"Well, seeing as you're one of the loveliest ladies in all of Disneyland, I thought it a bit of a shame that you're single," he smiled a little, pausing to take in her reaction.

"And?"

"And, seeing as you've been single, and so have I, for quite a while, and your slight interest in me a week or so ago at the Gala, I thought I might ask you to be my girlfriend," he smiled, but behind his sparkling eyes, he was daring her to say no.

"Oh, Wilbur," she said, half surprised and half exasperated as she headed towards the cash register.

He waited for her response after she paid. When she met his eyes, however, it wasn't the happy, excited Wendy he was expecting. The Wendy he saw was tired and distressed. Which wasn't good for Wilbur's situation…

"Wilbur, I just don't think it'd work out. See, I got a lot of stuff going on, and it's really messing with me—" she said, and then something caught her eye out of the window, and she walked to it. Wilbur followed her eye to a stumbling, jeans-and-plaid-flannel-shirt wearing Peter Pan.

"Is it him?" asked Wilbur, following her to the window.

Wendy sighed. "Wilbur, can I open up to you?" She looked into his eyes meaningfully. He, suddenly intimidated with how serious she was being, nodded. She returned her gaze to Peter. "Peter wants to get back together. He's said he'd change for me. And, well, he has."

"Do you want to get back together?"

"Oh, I don't know. Sometimes I think yes, and then I think no."

"What makes you say no?"

She frowned, her brow crinkling. "I think it's that I'm confused. With myself, mainly. Only a bit with Peter. I think I want a mature boy who can take care of me. But then I look at Peter, who is trying to accomplish just that. And then I think that I want Peter as he was. But then I think about how our relationship was before… how I had grown too old for him, and it drove us apart. I think I want to hold on to my childishness, but my childishness isn't me anymore. And my childhood was _great_… but my childhood was with _Peter_. So, I'm trying to figure out what's more wrong… me moving on without Peter, or he growing up _with _me."

This was too deep for Wilbur to deal with. "Well, whatever you decide, I hope you're happy," he rushed and left the shop, walking back to his house, not without glancing back to see Wendy staring out the window to Peter, who was now heading home as well.

He supposed he should be feeling sorry for Wendy, and even worse for putting such unexpected pressure on her, but he felt worse for himself—because he had been "humiliated" again. If he didn't get a girlfriend soon…


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: Okay, I am so sorry for the long wait, but the school year's over with, which means more writing. I thought I would post this before I left for a trip. I had the first paragraph written for quite some time, but it's taken a while for me to get back into the writing rhythm. It's like my inner author was waiting for school to end.**

**Anyway, this chapter, although relatively short, was _super _fun to write. Not all of this was planned, (as I, for the first time, resolve a story line in this chapter), and I hope it doesn't come across as rushed. I really like how it turned out. We have another first within the chapter, but if I told you, it'd be a major spoiler. SO MY LIPS ARE SEALED.**

**Just another few things. #1: I've posted a new poll on my profile! Go check it out. #2: I've been working on something else, which is why this has taken so long. I've tried a different tactic-work on the story without posting it online then posting it at a regular time every week or so. It hasn't taken up too much of my time, so don't feel cheated. I'm just really excited for this story because the fandom behind it is just awesome. Okie dokie... please read and review, now! I'm dying to hear what you think.**

Lumiere headed upstairs after instructing the chefs on what to cook for the day. He was going to see Chip, now. Ever since the incident with Chip and Mrs. Potts yesterday, the boy had been abnormally quiet. He would do his duties quickly, then rush back upstairs into his room, avoiding other servants…particularly his mother. Since Lumiere was the closest to Chip, he took it upon himself to keep an eye on the lad.

He lightly knocked on Chip's closed door. "Chip," he said, half-whispering. "It's me, Lumiere. May I please speak to you?" He wondered for a minute if his strong French accent was hard to understand when he whispered, but Chip, after a few moments of hesitation, opened the door only wide enough for skinny Lumiere to fit through.

"Thank you, my boy," he said, sitting at Chip's desk, turning the stool around to face him. "I was just wondering how you were."

Chip didn't reply at first, but eventually sighed and said, "Can I trust you?" He sounded weak and depressed.

"Absolutely."

Crossing his arms and sitting on the edge of the bed, Chip began, "You know that I've never left this castle?"

Lumiere was aware of this, but it had never really crossed his mind. _Never _left the castle. Not even once. "Yes, my boy, I know that."

"I mean, I hear stories about the people who move here. Not long ago, Rapunzel and Flynn moved in and I heard the story about how she finally escaped her tower. I can't help but feel like I could relate to her, even though I've never met her before." He ran his fingers through his long, dirty blonde hair. "I feel like I know _everyone_ in Disneyland without meeting them at all. I feel like… like I belong_ out there_... at least sometimes."

"Where is this coming from?" asked Lumiere, concerned.

Chip lay back on the bed, looking blankly at the ceiling. "I don't know. Ever since Mom yelled at me the other day about my _obsession_, she called it, with Disneyland, I've just been wanting out. More and more. You know what I mean?"

Lumiere could understand what he meant, but he couldn't understand what he felt… he had never felt it himself. But suddenly, he knew exactly what to say. Getting up slowly and pacing to the door, Lumiere droned, "I understand, Chip. But listen, my boy, we need our happy, chipper young servant back so that we can enjoy our work, and get more of it done, too. It's not my decision to let you out, but I'm in charge of the basement, and I just happened to lose the key."

"What?" Chip said, sitting up. The statement was so misplaced and subtle that he had almost missed it.

"Oh, you know… the door in the basement that leads up and out of Adam's castle. I lost the key. I'm still looking for it, but I'm sure you won't tell anyone for the time being that I lost it," he smiled coyly at the teen and winked.

"Are you suggesting that I sneak—"

Lumiere shut the door behind him, whispering, "I'm not suggesting anything. I'm emphasizing to you that I really need to look for that key. Someone might try to get out."

* * *

Aurora had gone out to lunch and Belle was outside paying for a shipment of books…which left Wendy all by herself at the checkout counter inside Belle's Books, leaning her head on her hand and flicking a pencil so that it would only roll back to its same position. It was a slow day. Mondays were always slow.

There was a jingle at the door and the sound of uneven footsteps. The door shut behind the customer, and Wendy didn't look particularly interested in who it was.

"Wendy?" It was surprised. She looked up. Peter.

"Hi," she said, nonchalantly. Her stomach did a flip. "That's weird," she thought, but shook it off.

"Hey. I guess I just… I don't know. I thought you might be off today. I kinda lose track of when everyone works. I was kinda expecting Aurora, but you know, it's good to see you too." He shook his head, massaging his temples. "I'm sorry. I'm rambling." He shook his head. "I had an order, but I made it when Aurora was here. Do you know how that works?"

Wendy couldn't help but smile. "Yes, I know how to give you a book you ordered. What was it?"

"I can't remember exactly. Something like _The Proud and Pre… _I don't know," he said, a little dejectedly.

"You mean _Pride and Prejudice_?" Wendy said, looking down the order list.

"Yeah, that's it. Is it ready?"

Wendy was a bit silent. "Uh, y-yeah, it's…um, it's ready. I'll just go into the back and get it."

She disappeared into the door behind the register, picking the book out of the newly loaded shelf. It had a sticker on the front that said "Mr. Peter Pan" on it. Her heart was beating out of her chest. This was her favorite book. He _knew _it was her favorite book. Did he honestly remember from when they were dating or did he investigate to figure it out? Was he honestly going to read it? Was it for someone else? She realized that she was probably taking a little too long. Composing herself, she exited the door as if nothing was the matter at all.

She looked down the list and saw that he had paid beforehand. "You're free to go. Enjoy your book," she breathed. Was she scared?

As soon as she heard the jingle of the front door, she bolted after him. "Peter!"

He was not too far from the shop yet, as his walking was out of practice and clumsy. "Yes, Wendy?"

She ran up to him, out of breath. "I just have to know. Why are you reading that book?"

"Because it's your favorite." He smiled, a bit sadly. "There has to be something good in here. Something that can mature me, to make me more like you. It's romance, right? Maybe it'll make me a better boyfriend."

"Peter, are you happy?"

The question caught him off guard. He quirked an eyebrow upwards. "Are you?"

"Not when you're like this!" Her eyes started to burn. Where was this coming from? "Peter, you're not yourself anymore!" She was yelling. "You're growing up, and I want it to stop! Don't do it for me, I'm not worth it… I let you go!" All of a sudden she was crying, tears streaming down her face, hot and rushed and relieving. She was screaming at him what she had been thinking all along. "I made a mistake, I know, but I didn't see any other option! You're not happy, now! You're not the man I fell in love with!" She stopped herself, the last statement striking a blow to her. Apparently, it had its weight on him, too.

"The man you fell in love with? You loved me?" He sounded suddenly hoarse.

"I…I guess I still do," it came out as a whisper. "I just want the past. I want to be young. I want _you_ to be young! I want to love and be loved! I want to—"

She barely noticed Peter coming closer and closer to her during her rant. She barely noticed when he had dropped the book on the ground and swiftly, gently caught her neck. She _noticed _when suddenly her words were blocked from exiting her mouth. Peter was kissing her, softly, soothingly, understandingly, in a way that made her melt. She threw her arms about his neck, digging her fingers into his thick red hair. He broke it off only after a few seconds, making Wendy's lips feel singed, leaving her internally begging for more.

He stepped back from her, sadness still deep within his eyes. "I love you, too." He picked up his book. "Everything's going to be okay." He started walking away, but she grabbed his shoulder.

"Peter, if I agree to be your girlfriend again, will you please stop all of… this?" She pulled on his collar.

He smiled, life coming back into his eyes. "Is that a yes?"

"Yes, Peter Pan, it's a yes."

He flew into the air, letting out his rooster call and coming back down. "Wait a second. That doesn't solve the problem, does it? You're still going to grow up without me."

She smiled, shyly. "Actually, I think I'm willing to sacrifice." He looked confused. "What keeps you young?"

"Faith, trust, pixie dust," he recited almost automatically.

"Pixie Hollow produces plenty of pixie dust for me." Her grin broadened. "And as long as I have you, I have faith and trust."

This Monday wasn't slow.

* * *

"I guess I don't get a special ceremony like all the princesses, then, do I?" she walked around the castle throne room, looking at the decorations.

Mickey laughed. "No, I'm afraid not. We can't afford things like that for everyone who moves to Disneyland. But we'll make an announcement, that's for sure."

Lilo nodded. She wondered if anyone would remember her. Last time she had paid a visit from Hawaii, she was squat and a bit pudgy. Like most of the Disneyland teens, she had thinned down as she grew up, and now resembled her sister more than she did of her past self.

"Well, thank you, anyway. It'll be nice to see everyone."

"So, just a recap. You have your key, your welcome bonus, and your boxes are being unloaded."

"As we speak."

"Good!" He shook Lilo's tanned hand. "Well, my dear, it's great to have you. I hope you make friends and enjoy yourself. Disneyland's thankful to have you."

Lilo nodded, stepping out into the foreign town, wondering if anyone noticed that she was there, yet.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note: I felt the need to address this quickly, so maybe that's why the next chapter is out so soon. I wanted to make this review response public so that people would be able to hear my side of it:**

**Dear bluethunder25,**

**I can assure you that I am a **_**writer, **_**not a copy machine. Everything that I post on this site is 100% from my head. I don't read other fanfiction much, and so I have never read yours. (In preparing this statement, though, I looked over the synopses of your stories.) Several of your stories came out after this was published, and most of the Disney ones don't sound like my story at all. Some sound similar to it, but similarity is not a basis for plagiarism.**

**On another point, the idea of Disney characters living normal lives in a world of their own is not a rare idea. (Look at perhaps the most famous Disney fic of all: "When Curiosity Met Insanity.") I decided to do my take on it, and you decided to do yours.**

**Finally, I encourage you to read further. It's hard to tell much about a story from the first chapter, and judging from your review, that's all you read. Individual characters and story lines are what make fanfictions all unique and interesting.**

**So, in conclusion, I wish you would have messaged me instead of leaving this in my reviews, where helpful criticism and encouragement belong…it would have been classier and less messy.**

**This has hurt me as a person and as a writer, and I am deeply offended. I wish you wouldn't judge a book from the first chapter… it insults the **_**person **_**you're talking to.**

**But I can understand why you're upset—if I thought someone stole my story, I'd be upset, too. If you still aren't convinced that I didn't steal anything, try messaging me… but I think I laid out all of my points and arguments sufficiently. **

**To all my readers, I am still confident and in love with this story, and will continue writing. I hope my audience trusts me and continues reading, as well.**

**Thank you!**

Everything he had to do was done for the day. He had done his chores, and his mom knew he had bathed that day. They ate at separate times, so really, she had no reason to bother him… especially with as little as they had been talking to each other lately.

Chip even knew the places to avoid- Belle's Books and Phil's Training Gym—just in case Belle or Adam saw him. Even if they did, he had an emergency beanie to cover his hair and sunglasses that he had…uh, borrowed…from Lumiere.

He knew how to get to the basement, but from there, it was foreign territory. He had to act like he had a purpose in going there… seeing other servants was unavoidable. Chip tried to convince himself of this lie: he was just going for a walk. Just a walk… outside.

He wasn't a bad boy. He didn't do this sort of stuff often... and if he was being honest, never. But the fire in his heart had only grown more rogue with the possibility of going _out _and _away_. His mother, if she ever knew, which he didn't plan on her knowing, would just have to understand.

He stepped down onto the fragile wooden stairs that led down to the basement, hoping not to make too much noise with the squeaky, rotting steps.

"Chip?" It was Cogsworth. Chip's pulse went into overdrive.

"Uh, hello, Cogsworth."

"What are you doing, boy?" he asked, looking to Chip's outstretched hand that was reaching for the door to the basement. His "going for a walk" lie wasn't going to work here.

"Uh, I'm just getting something for Adam."

"For Adam? Isn't he at work?"

"Darn it," Chip thought. "Uh, yeah, he's at work. That's… that's why he needs it. Yeah, I'm giving it to someone else to take to him."

"Oh. Well what is it?"

"Uh… it's… his breastplate. Special business that Phil ordered on short notice. Needs protection."

"I see. But doesn't Adam have his breastplate at work?"

Chip froze again. "He has _one _of his breastplates… he needs the better one, though. You know those villains… they have arrows that can pierce right through metal." He swung his arm enthusiastically, hoping he'd buy it.

"Is that so?"

"Yup."

"Well, who are you supposed to give it to?"

"Another question?" he thought. "Uh, I was _supposed _to give it to you, but since you don't seem to know anything about it…"

"I know everything that goes on inside this castle… and out." He straightened his jacket. "Of course I know that Adam needed his breastplate for work. Let's go in and see if we can—"

"Cogsworth! What are you and Chip doing going down into the basement?" asked a familiar French accent, grabbing Cogsworth by the shoulder and spinning him around.

"Lumiere! I thought you were in the kitchen. I was just going to help Chip find Adam's best breastplate so that I can deliver it to him while he's working. Phil's sending them on a special order, you see, and—"

"Yes, _monsieur_, I'm sure that's all good and nice. But Adam's breastplate _isn't _in the basement… it's in the attic. I should know. I'm in charge of both. Let's send the boy on his way and find it together, shall we?" Lumiere said, ushering Cogsworth along back down the corridor. He turned back his head to Chip and mouthed "run!"

Chip, as quickly and quietly as he could, vanished inside the basement. Cogsworth must have heard something, because Chip could hear him saying, "Where did young Charles go? Lumiere, look at that! The boy moves so fast! He was just _right there!_"

Chip waited until he could no longer hear their footsteps, then descended further into the dark and dank basement. Looking around, he was glad Lumiere had come to his rescue. There was nothing that could even remotely pass for a breastplate.

After wading around in the fray of assorted junk, Chip finally got to the back wall and scooted against it until he arrived at the door he was looking for. Steadying himself and breathing deeply, he swung open the door.

Sunlight blinded him. It was afternoon outside, and the sun was low in the sky. He had felt the sun's warmth through the windows before, but this was different. It was illuminating, present, and _real._

He knew he should move quickly. Chip shut the door behind him, stepping out into Disneyland.

"Where to go? Where to go?" he mumbled to himself.

He had dreamed of going places that he had heard only stories of, and he even had seen a few from the tall towers in the castle. He decided that Hatter and Hare's was the place to go. That's where, in his mom's words, "The cute little blonde and the crazies work." But apparently, they had the best tea… so good, Adam would say, "That it could make a villain become a hero."

Chip sauntered over across the Disneyland residential area, down to the street that he knew, if he took it, would take him to the Shopping District. He knew he had to keep his head up and look like he knew where he was going. He would just say he was new to the town.

Eventually running from excitement, but still taking in all of his surroundings, Chip finally reached the Shopping District that was buzzing with life on this Tuesday afternoon, preparing for the dinner rush. He hoped he could get in to Hatter and Hare's… he didn't have a backup plan.

He could already tell by the crowd around the door that there would be a wait. He didn't even intend on staying… he didn't have any money. He just wanted to look around inside. But that's not how it worked at Hatter and Hare's apparently.

An unseen voice was shrilly screeching above the noise of the crowd, "One at a time! One at a time! Don't overwhelm your host!" Chip finally located the source of the noise, a doorknob, who was being spoken to all at once.

"We have room for Fitzherbert, party of two!" A brunette woman and a brunette man passed through the crowd and entered the restaurant, using the doorknob to get in.

"What do you want, my boy?" asked the doorknob kindly to Chip.

"What do you mean?"

"A table and for how many?"

Chip's face flushed. "Uh, can I just get a look inside? I'm not from here, but I've heard a lot about this place and I—"

"Just get a look? I'm sorry, lad. For traffic control, we have to keep staff and customers only inside." Chip turned away sadly from the doorknob, but was grabbed on the shoulder by a dirty-blonde headed boy. Chip jumped a little. He just knew he was caught for sure...

"Hi! I'm sorry if I scared you. I just couldn't help but overhear that you're not from here. I just thought I'd introduce myself and offer you a spot at our table. We've had to wait for a while, but we're almost ready to go in." He stuck his hand out. "I'm Andy Davis."

Chip shook his hand. "Wait…" Chip thought, "What should I call myself? Would he recognize the name Chip? Does he know Belle?" He came up with something quick and replied, "Nice to meet you, Andy. I'm Matthew."

"Nice to meet you, Matthew. Will you join us for dinner?" He gestured behind him to a boy with red hair, girl with curly brown locks, and another boy with a big smile. "This is Peter, Wendy, and Chris." They all smiled and uttered pleasantries. "We were expecting two more, but they didn't show up." He turned to his group. "I think Eilonwy got a cold." They all nodded, and Peter rolled his eyes.

"Uh, really, I'd love to, but I haven't actually got any money," he admitted ashamedly.

"Don't worry about it! I think, if we all chip in," (Chip jumped at his name), "We could buy you something. I can get you ten percent off because of a silly restaurant tradition… and my girlfriend works here, so I'm sure she can get you a discount or _something_. You just relax. We'll take care of it!"

Chip lit up. Was _this _what his mom was trying to steer him clear of? Friends and kindness? It angered him a little, but he decided to remain in the present. "Thanks a lot, Andy. I'll owe you one."

Andy smiled wider. "Nonsense. A guest in Disneyland owes me nothing." He ran his fingers through his hair. "So, are you going to be staying in Disneyland?"

Chip had to think about this. Was he going to sneak out again? "Yeah, I think I will."

"Great! I work at Rapunzel's Art during the day, but you can find me at my house in the afternoon, normally." He pointed in the distance to a two story house. "If you ever need something to do, come find me."

Chip spent the rest of the night laughing and learning about Disneyland, Peter poking fun at Andy, Andy and Alice smiling at each other, Peter and Wendy doing the same, Chris commenting every once in a while with a witty remark. Chip decided that this was the best night of his life… it was where he belonged.

* * *

Earlier that day, Mickey stood above the people and announced Lilo's coming to Disneyland. She graciously met all who came and went immediately home to finish unpacking.

She left the door open for ease of passage from the inside and outside. Lilo heard a knock on the open door as she surveyed the multitude of boxes in her tiny living room. She turned around to see a tall, dark headed boy. "Hi. Are you Lilo?" he asked, sticking out his hand.

She hadn't met him at the announcement service. "Hello! And yes, I am. Who might you be?" Lilo said, ushering him in, deciding to take a rest and closing the door behind him.

"Wilbur. Wilbur Robinson. I guess I was just stopping by to see if you needed any help moving in," he sighed, putting his fists on his hips and surveying the packed room.

"Actually, that'd be great. Would you believe no one's offered?"

Should he make a move? That was the _real _reason for coming over. But on his way over from the Shopping District, he saw Andy and Alice hugging as she worked at Hatter and Hare's, along with Wendy and Peter holding hands over dinner. That got him to thinking…maybe he should take things _slow_… but only for the purpose of finding someone to love.

Andy had done the same thing with Alice. Wilbur had been trying for years, but Andy slowly became involved with Alice as she let him know that she was interested. Peter and Wendy's relationship had been much more bumpy, but it had worked out. Even relationships that had lasted a long time—Eilonwy and Taran, or even Rapunzel and Flynn—started somewhat slowly.

Something bubbled up in the flirty mind of Wilbur's and forced him to make a move. "I can't believe that anyone hasn't offered… who would pass up the chance to spend the evening with a beauty like yourself?"

Lilo inwardly groaned. She didn't need this. "Look, Wilbur. It's really nice of you to offer, but if you came over here for the sole purpose of romancing me, it's not happening. It's not you… it's just that I'm new and it'll take some time." She smiled sweetly. "So, if that'll be all, I suggest you leave."

Wilbur was stunned. Stunned, but not hurt. They were right. Most girls didn't like fast relationships. He grunted. "No, that's not all. I'm going to help you, like I said I was. What can I do?"

* * *

"I'm going outside just for a second to get the mail. We'll resume talking when I get back," Jasmine said amiably. She and Alice were gathered in Jasmine's home to talk, as they tended to do every so often. Jasmine was a sort of mentor to the girl, and they would often talk about their experiences and plans for the future.

She stood and was only out for a minute, leaving Alice to sip on her tea, then brought in a single letter. A noise of surprise came from the Arabian princess as she read the front of the envelope. "What is it?" asked Alice.

"It's from Father. I do wonder what he wants." Alice looked concerned. "No, no. I'll read it later. It shouldn't interrupt us." Alice gave her a look that said, "Go ahead."

With a grateful look on her face, Jasmine's brown eyes flicked over the letter, quickly taking in every word. "Oh!"

"What?" Alice asked. She was intrigued about what could happen in the outside world.

"He wants me and Aladdin to come to a festival in two weeks." She put her pointer finger on her chin in thought. "I wonder if I take a plane next week if that'll be enough time…"

"Jasmine?"

She looked up. "Hmm?"

"What's a plane? I've never seen one, only heard about them in books. I got to Disneyland by way of boat and carriage. At least I think." She scrunched her brows together. "I don't really remember coming to Disneyland at all, really."

"I think everyone forgets, dear. A plane is a winged craft that flies in the air. It goes so fast, you could travel all the way to Agrabah in a day." Alice was awe-stricken.

"Tell me more about what it's like out there…"

Jasmine went on to tell of famous things called landmarks, and they had them all over the world. Alice couldn't believe people would go their whole lives without seeing all of them. She decided then and there that she would be like Jasmine, who traveled the world, looking for the best of sights, the best of times, the best of people.


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note: ****So, this is shorter than normal because I decided to do this in one sitting and knock it out. It legit took me less than an hour.**

**A few review replies:**

**Styx and Stones: Thank you! You have no idea how much this encouraged me. It made me want to write the next chapter the day you posted the review! But alas, you had to wait until today. :)**

**Guest: I'm glad you like it! The princesses will have a more significant role later on. Just hold your horses. :) **

**Not much to say about this chapter. I hope you enjoy it! If you're looking for music to read to, I wrote this to "Cha-Ching" by Imagine Dragons. Oh, and don't forget to vote on my new poll at my profile! It'd help a lot!**

Lilo had wanted to sleep in. She had a long day ahead of her. With the Robinson boy's help, she had successfully moved in all of the boxes from the moving truck and into her living room. Now to move all of her belongings in and around the furniture. Goody.

But she could do that later. She would sleep as late as she wanted today and then do it later.

But there was a knock at the door. It was persistent.

Finally, she rolled over and slid her house slippers on, not bothering to look any more presentable for the person who was banging at the door.

She looked in the peephole and caught sight of that already signature white smile. Wilbur.

She opened it, eyes half open. "What."

"Good morning. I brought you something from Tiana's. I hope you like cranberry scones." He held out a white to-go bag and an iced coffee.

She was a bit taken aback. He didn't seem like he was flirting… he seemed… friendly. Like it was just a nice gesture. She smiled through her early-morning-fog-brain and took the food. "Thank you, Wilbur. That was very thoughtful of you. Would you like to come in?"

"Maybe for just a minute. Will you need any help today?" he asked, taking a sip of his own piping hot cup of joe.

"Yes, sir. I've got a lot of moving to do today." She sat down across from him at her kitchen table that was covered with a few boxes. He put them to the floor so that he could see her.

"I can tell. Well, I'll help as much as I can, but I've got to go after a while."

"To do _what _exactly?" asked Lilo.

"Nothing." He smiled.

"You don't work?" she asked. Disneyland was pretty expensive for such a small town.

"Technically. There was an awkward situation with one of my co-workers, and, to be honest, I didn't really like the job anyway. I guess I can't really get fired, Rapunzel wouldn't do that, but I don't know if I'm really going back either." He narrowed his eyes. "What about you, miss? Pointing the finger about me not working when you're so new here. Where are you working, anyway?"

"I would like to offer my services to parents who are in need of a babysitter. It'll be small income, I'm very aware, but it should be enough. I just love kids. I guess I never really grew up too much, myself." Lilo smiled, taking a bite out of a still warm scone.

"I'm sorry to say there's not many kids around here. You're going to have a tough time bringing in business."

"I think I'll have enough. I can do pets, too. I mean, Philip and Aurora are about to have a baby. That's a source of income, right?" she asked, twirling the straw in her coffee.

"Yeah, I guess. Well, I figure we better start moving pretty soon if we want to get done in time for me to do nothing." They both smiled.

"You go ahead and start sorting boxes. I'm going to get ready and I'll be right there." She started off towards her bedroom and turned to face him. "Thanks, Wilbur."

* * *

Andy wiped off the counter. Rapunzel had spilled her water from the watercolors as she passed by. She was on a roll today… three new paintings sold before she had even finished them. It was late afternoon and Matthew stood across the counter from Andy, talking to him as he worked. It was nice to have company. Wilbur had stopped coming to work at all when he and Alice started dating and it was awkward whenever Lewis was there, not only because of the heartbreak he had caused his future son, but also that Lewis was simply defined by the word awkward.

"So, where are you staying?" asked Andy, looking up at his new friend between swipes of the towel.

"Oh, you know, around." Matthew rubbed his arm. This kid was a bit strange.

"Around where? I know everywhere in Disneyland."

"Th…that's just it! I'm not staying in Disneyland. I'm staying a little bit out of the borders."

Andy suddenly looked concerned. "That's dangerous, you know. The Outlands are never safe. You may not know this because you're new, but villains live out there. Where exactly are you staying? North? West?"

"No, south."

Andy's expression melted. "Good. The south is pretty safe. A little while ago, the villains attacked the city, but were forced into the Northwest. Just stay with me if you ever notice anything fishy. The villains are sneaky and ruthless."

Maybe _that _was why his mother had wanted to keep him inside. But honestly, he was no more safe inside the castle than in Disneyland. The castle was lonely and very easily targeted… by the time it was attacked, the people who would come to help would be too late. But again, Chip's thoughts were placed inside his head at the wrong time.

"Matthew? Hey, Matt. I asked you a question."

"What?" he blinked his eyes as if the world were suddenly too bright for him to look at. "Sorry. Uh, what did you say Andy?"

"I said that Disneyland's a pretty hard town to live in unless you find work here. Or you can marry in to money, but I think you're a little young for that." Andy chucked a little, more at the thought of "Matthew" getting married than of his own joke. "Do you intend to work anywhere?"

"I didn't, actually." But now that he thought about it…"But since you mention it, why not?"

"That's what _I'm _saying! You'll have a much better time with a few Disneydollars in your pocket. Where are you thinking of working?"

Chip put his elbow on the freshly cleaned counter, holding his chin as he thought. "I don't know. Where do you suggest?"

"I wouldn't suggest here." Rapunzel looked up, a bit hurt. "Hold _on_, let me clarify. There are long hours that wouldn't be good for Matthew. He wants to see the town too, not just work. Also, it's not as busy so you wouldn't get to see as many people. Plus, 'Punzel, I think we've got plenty of employees to handle the workload." He smiled brightly. She returned it and continued eagerly painting.

"Well, that's one down. A lot more to go. There's so many stores in Disneyland!"

Andy laughed. "I don't know where you come from, but five stores isn't a lot." He thought for a minute, silent as he squeezed the rag out over the sink in the back of the store. "Have you ever considered working in a restaurant?"

"Oh, no. I'm no good with food."

"You don't have to be! How are you at carrying tea?"

Chip looked up, brow scrunched. "Hatter and Hare's? Why would you think—"

"You're well paid, well, whenever they can remember to pay you, you're in a fun, busy environment, it's not too fancy, it's laid back, and you already know someone who works there. Plus, I don't eat out a lot, but when I do, I go to Hatter and Hare's to see Alice. I could swing by and see you as well. It'd be perfect!" Andy looked genuinely excited.

Chip considered this for a bit and finally Rapunzel turned around in her rotating stool and stated, "I say go for it."

Chip smiled. "That settles it, then. I'll work at Hatter and Hare's."

* * *

The decrepit old woman looked through the dusty blinds of the old home, her friend sitting behind her waiting for her to speak. The sweet little Liddell girl walked across the Shopping District on her way home from work.

Mama Odie grunted, shuffling over to the blue-clad fairy. "She knows."

Fairy Godmother's eyes widened. "Alice?"

Mama Odie nodded and returned briefly to the window, only to hobble back a minute later, disappearing out the back door with Fairy close on her heels.

Grandmother Willow sat outside in the glow of the sunset, basking her kind face in its warmth and familiarity. She heard her friends come outside and watched silently as they sat in the garden chairs beside her. She waited a minute before speaking to let their ancient bones settle.

"Why have you come to see me?"

Mama Odie suddenly looked very grave. "The Liddell girl. She knows." She sighed. "Or at least she's beginning to."

"Knows what?" asked Grandmother.

Mama Odie glanced around, making sure no one was around to hear. This could be critical to those unsuspecting ears. "I saw her. I saw her as she talked with Jasmine. Jasmine still doesn't know, but she's at least aware of the outside world, which is more than most Disneylanders. I saw the empty spark in her eye when she couldn't remember how she got to Disneyland. The memory—that is what will trigger it." Odie used her stick to readjust herself.

"And then what?" asked a very concerned Fairy Godmother. She liked Alice.

"I don't know… it's never been done before."

"What do you think we should do?" asked Grandmother.

Mama Odie cleared her throat. "Not sure… this could be interesting. We'll see if my hunch is right. Alice will come asking questions."

"And what will we do in the meantime?" asked Grandmother Willow.

With a toothy smile, Odie replied, "Be prepared to answer them."


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Note: This is longer than yesterday, but it was harder to write. Not much to say. Thanks for the reviews I got since yesterday!**

**Oh yeah! I forgot to mention this yesterday: Happy one year to this story! I hope it'll be finished by next year, but you'll never know. I'm going to do some serious planning after I post this so hopefully it'll be easier to write. I hope you enjoyed this year and will continue reading into the next!**

**WARNING: I'm not sure that the implications of the latter part of this chapter is fitted under my "K+" rating. :) Enjoy!**

Lilo had gotten up once again, early. Today was sure to be busy… she planned to hang up posters, then go door to door stuffing her flyers in the small space on the mailbox between the flag and the metal. If she was going to live on her own in Disneyland, she had to have a source of income. Her welcome bonus could only last her so long.

She and Wilbur had spent most of yesterday slowly unpacking her belongings. He seemed so childlike—he was interested in everything he pulled out, and felt the need to ask most of the time what significance it had. He seemed especially confused about pictures of the beach. She figured that he had never seen the coast. Most people around Disneyland never had, either. He had lightly teased her when he saw pictures of Lilo as a little kid with her grass skirt sliding down off of one hip, holding her surfboard next to a patient-looking Nani.

This was far too early for Wilbur to be up, so she really shouldn't expect her new friend's help. But she felt lonely. Nani was right in her goodbye letter: living alone was tough. But the people around Disneyland seemed generally nice and willing to help someone in need. Still… Lilo certainly wouldn't mind some company as she did her rounds this morning.

The sun was just beginning to come up, making the slowly awakening Disneyland look like a watercolor painting. She looked up at a hill which overlooked the Disney Shopping District which housed the rising light. There she saw a very unexpected sight… spiky black hair sticking out from around the tree. She saw Wilbur's legs outstretched, his hands placed behind his head, looking very mellow.

Surely he wasn't up for a particular _reason..._ maybe he was just an early morning person? He looked deep in thought, and since she figured that was a rare occurrence, she decided to leave him be. She turned and made a lap around the District, hanging up posters outside every business, on every pole, and on every corkboard. On her way back to the Resident District, she felt someone grab her around the waist, more playfully than flirtily, and pull her backwards, feeling warmth fill in around her.

She was more stunned than scared, as she already had an idea of who it was. As soon as she got her breath back into her, she sighed. "Wilbur, let me go, please."

"Fine." He let her waist go and helped her pick up a few posters that had flown loose. "You didn't honestly think you could sneak around the entire District and not have me notice, did you?"

"Well, you looked pretty busy."

He raised his eyebrows at her, surprised. "Really? I do that every morning. Disneyland sunrises are the best. Then, it's nice to see the city come to life afterwards."

"Funny, you don't strike me as a morning person."

"Yes m'am. Actually, I'm really more of an all-the-time kind of person. Well, as long as I'm doing what I want."

Lilo smiled. "So I guess that means you're not going to work today either?"

"Why do you doubt me? I was actually considering it today. I guess since you can't see that I have any future…" he started back up the hill until she called him back down. He laughed. "Just kidding. I figured I might as go once this month. I can stand some extra Disneydollars in my pocket. Can't let Andy keep me away for too long, can I?"

"I guess not."

"Before you go, though, would you like some help hanging up the posters? It looked exhausting going around the entire District." He smiled mischievously.

"You sat there and _watched me _instead of helping!" She shoved him playfully with her shoulder. "You pig."

"Oh, so _I'm_ the pig? At least I have the common decency to say good morning instead of passing by without saying anything. I bet I looked pretty good in that sunlight, huh?" he raised his eyebrows at her, and she pushed him away, but with a fond smile. She wasn't taking him seriously, and he wasn't taking himself seriously, either.

"Fine, you win this round. But you're still helping me." He rolled his eyes. "Come on, it has to be at least an hour before you have to go to work. I'm going to every house to stuff mailboxes." She handed him one of the red and white Hawaiian-floral flyers and grabbed him by the arm.

They were able to hit every house in town with the exception of Pixie Hollow. She kept complaining to Wilbur as he would correct her when she headed to a house that didn't have kids. She would try to explain that maybe they knew someone that needed a sitter, but he would only repeat it the next time they got to a similar house. They got to Philip and Aurora's house and caught Philip on his way to work.

"Hi, Wilbur, Lilo! How are you?"

"Doing great, thanks. And yourself?" asked Wilbur.

"Just fine. I can take that if you don't want to waste your time putting it there." He took it gingerly and glanced at it. "Babysitting, huh? Well, we have nothing for you to babysit just yet. Wait a few months and my wife'll be overjoyed to hear this."

He smiled and stuck it in his doublet. They all looked at the sudden sound of a squeaky door opening and they all waved as Aurora peaked out. She smiled and waved back to them, waddling out to the front step to get the paper then carefully going back in, cautious not to hit her barely showing baby bump on anything.

Philip was beaming at her until the door closed. "Isn't she precious?" It was rhetorical. "Have a good morning, kids." He walked away, whistling.

After a while, Wilbur went off to work and Lilo went back to her house to settle in and await any phone calls.

* * *

"Okay, so, in advance, I apologize for them," Alice said softly as she led him to the back of the restaurant. "Really, you just need them to say that you're hired and you can come and go as you please. But don't push them about paying you, it doesn't help any. Honestly though, this place could use some help. Just answer the questions how you think they would like them to be answered. When in doubt, the answer is tea. Anything other questions?" Alice finished outside of the door that read "Bosses' Room: Enter as You Please as Long as You Have Tea."

"I think I got it. You're coming in to help me, right?" Chip asked hopefully.

She smiled. Alice was a very attractive girl. "Of course." She opened the door and stepped in, only to duck to dodge a flying teacup that was hurtled against the wall. "Nice to see you, too." She muttered sarcastically and the two stopped their merriment for a moment to glare at her.

"Who is this?" They became instantly very curious when they saw Chip.

"This is my friend Matthew. He's new around here and would like a job," Alice said, patting Chip on the back.

"Well now, that all depends," said the Hatter complacently.

Alice glowered at her bosses. Chip patted her back, then said calmly, "Depends on what?" Alice shot him a look that said, "Why did you have to ask?"

"It depends if you like tea, my boy. Tea, tea, tea, that's what it's all about here. If the tea isn't happy, no one is. Now, what were we talking about? Tea? Speaking of which, would you like some tea, my boy? Alice, what are you doing here? Matthias and I were about to have tea. Would you care for some? Come to complain about your pay again, I presume?" the Hatter laughed and stirred an obscene amount of sugar into a miniscule cup of tea then shoved it into Chip's chest. (He found it ironic that even when he was his freest, the memories of once being trapped inside the physicality of a teacup never left him.)

Alice groaned and whispered in Chip's ear, "We need to get out fast before it's too late." She stared at her two mad bosses. "So, is he hired or not?"

"Of course! Any friend of Alice's is an acquaintance of ours," the March Hare raised his glass. "Now are you going to stand there and poison the air with your talk or are you going to have a sip of tea?" Alice ushered Chip out before they could say anything else.

"Now, I'll run you through how things work around here and you can start working. The other employees never help pick up the slack. It'll be nice to have another set of hands around here," Alice said, grinning encouragingly.

She showed him where to place orders and pick them up, the chart for the seating, which tables would be his, things to say and when to say them, and filled him in on all of the company's policies (most of which were created by her). Once Chip said that he had the swing of things, Alice set him out on his own to try his hand at waitering.

* * *

It was dark and quiet as they all looked at the dimly lit unrolled map. They stared, their yellow eyes driven by evil intent. No one dared say a word until _she _spoke.

It seemed Maleficent wanted the dust to settle before she started the meeting. "So, are you lot going to sit there until I die from age or do you dim-wits have any ideas?"

"I…I have one, your honor," said Hook submissively.

"Go ahead."

"Well, if initiating a full-blown war is what you want, we need to attack from a point that would hurt them the most... especially since you want _them _to declare first, madam."

"What? Do you think I'm stupid? That's what I'm trying to decide! What will hurt them the most!" she screamed it at Hook's face and called to Shan Yu and the Huns. "Take Hook outside. He's far too incompetent for this meeting." And they did, Hook hanging hopelessly limp in their arms.

"Now. Anyone have something _valuable _to say?"

Eyes shifted, fingers twitched nervously. Finally, someone spoke. "If you please, your honor," said Yzma, stretching a hand to lay on the table. "I think I may have something worth your while."

Maleficent smiled a wide, eerily graceful grin. "Go on."

"You see, my old henchman lives in the city now, and doesn't really have much of a job there. I'm sure he could be easily swayed, giving us an advantage from the inside," Yzma said, splaying her reptilian hands.

Maleficent stared at Yzma then stared at the map. "Yes, that could certainly be useful to us. Anyone else?"

There was a short lull until Ursula spoke up. "I suggest we find someone who is an easy target but means a lot to the community and make an example of them."

"Like whom?"

"Oh, I don't know. I suppose we could send in spies to find out just who—"

"No. No spies. We can't afford another loss since the Tremaine girls were lost."

"Actually, your honor, I think that it would be worth our time if we sent spies in." This came from Lady Tremaine. "I know we voted not to send a search party for Anastasia and Drizella, but I think if we can also utilize the expedition to target an individual, you'll find the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks. You'll kill two birds with one stone."

Maleficent considered this for a minute then said, "Fine. But this search party must kill a 'third bird,' if you will, by… doing away with our target. At this time, we'll select our party. So…" she leaned forward with a malicious smile. "Who wants to go?"


End file.
